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Carotenoid Deposition (carotenoid + deposition)
Selected AbstractsEgg-yolk androgen and carotenoid deposition as a function of maternal social environment in barn swallows Hirundo rusticaJOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY, Issue 4 2010Rebecca J. Safran Evidence is mounting that female animals use egg-yolk compounds (e.g. steroids, antioxidants) to adaptively engineer the quality of their offspring as a function of several maternal and environmental factors. Though adjustments to yolk allocation have been well-characterized as a function of parental phenotypes, we know very little about how an individual's social environment influences yolk composition. Here, we consider how two types of yolk compounds, androgens and carotenoids, relate to the maternal social environment during the egg-laying period, controlling statistically for known correlations between various aspects of parental quality and egg yolk compounds. Barn swallows Hirundo rustica erythrogaster breed in groups of highly variable size and spacing, allowing us to test whether or not the social environment is correlated with these maternal effects. We found no relationship between carotenoid levels in eggs as a function of colony size, colony density, or nearest-neighbor distance. However, eggs from females in larger groups had lower concentrations and total amounts of yolk androgens than those from females in smaller, less dense social settings. Our results counter previous predictions and literature, showing that females breeding in large groups deposit more androgen in eggs, mechanistically, because they compete more with conspecifics and have higher circulating androgen levels themselves and, functionally, because it could be advantageous for their offspring to show high androgen-mediated competitive abilities early in life. Instead, because group size in this species is governed largely by site fidelity and the availability of old nests for re-use, and because reproductive output does not differ as a function of group size, it may be that competition is greater for limited nests in small groups, thus elevating androgen levels. Further, yolk androgens were previously shown to be affected by male quality, and the greater concentrations and amounts of yolk androgens in smaller sites may reflect differential allocation to darker males found at these sites. [source] The Effect of Dietary Carotenoids on Gonad Production and Carotenoid Profiles in the Sea Urchin Lytechinus variegatusJOURNAL OF THE WORLD AQUACULTURE SOCIETY, Issue 2 2002Larry R. Plank Although dietary carotenoids are generally considered important in sea urchin aquaculture only for their effect on gonad color, they also have important biological roles. The effects of dietary carotenoids on gonad production and organ carotenoid profiles of Lytechinus variegatus were examined. Individuals were collected in January 1999 and fed a replete diet with a level of 0.60 mg carotenoids/kg for 4 wk, followed by one of four prepared diets for 8 wk: one without supplemental carotenoids, one with ,-carotene (16.92 mg carotenoids/kg feed), and two carotenoid mixtures, one high in zeaxanthin (5.28 mg carotenoids/kg feed) and another high in capsanthin (9.63 mg carotenoids/kg feed). The carotenoid profiles of the body compartments differed. The primary carotenoid in gonads of males and females was echi-nenone. The carotenoid profile of the test was similar to that of the gonad. The carotenoid profile of the gut varied with diet, but was not identical to composition of the diet. The gut profiles included echinenone but at lower concentrations than in the gonad and test. The carotenoid profile in the gut probably results from the presence of the carotenoids absorbed and those metabolized. The results suggest that several pathways exist to metabolize dietary carotenoids and that some of them are in the gut. The concentration of carotenoids in the gut (g wet weight) was higher than that of the gonad, which was higher than that of the test. The gonads increased significantly in size regardless of diet, indicating carotenoids are not required for gonad production under the conditions of this experiment. Although the concentration of carotenoids in the gonad decreased over time, the absolute amount of carotenoids increased with the increase in gonad size. Either gonad growth was more rapid than carotenoid deposition or differential deposition in nutritive cells and gametogenic cells occurred, or the amount of carotenoids used in the diets was too low to have an effect. [source] Macular pigment optical density at four retinal loci during 120 days of lutein supplementationOPHTHALMIC AND PHYSIOLOGICAL OPTICS, Issue 4 2007Adam J. Wenzel Abstract Background:, Increased consumption of lutein and zeaxanthin has been shown to increase macular pigment optical density (MPOD) in some individuals. Most interventions either obtained infrequent measures of MPOD or measured MPOD at a single retinal locus. Purpose:, The aim of this study was to measure acute changes in MPOD at four retinal loci during lutein intervention. Methods:, For 120 days, three subjects consumed 30 mg of lutein and 2.7 mg of zeaxanthin supplement per day. MPOD was measured with heterochromatic flicker photometry at 20,, 30,, 60, and 120, eccentricity three or four times per week. High-performance liquid chromatography was used to measure serum carotenoid concentrations in blood samples collected at baseline and at 30-day intervals. Results:, At the two most central loci, MPOD significantly increased in all three subjects with a mean change of approximately 0.09 log units at 20, eccentricity and 0.08 log units at 30, eccentricity. MPOD significantly increased in two subjects at 60, eccentricity, and in one subject at 120, eccentricity. The increases in MPOD appeared to be linear and continued after treatment was ended. In all three subjects, log sensitivity at the reference locus decreased linearly. Serum lutein and serum zeaxanthin increased from baseline, reaching peak concentrations after 30 days of supplementation. Conclusion:, The changes in MPOD suggest that carotenoid deposition occurs linearly and may be biased towards the central retina. Further, carotenoid deposition may occur outside the central fovea in interventions with pharmacological doses of carotenoid, resulting in underestimations of psychophysical measures of MPOD. [source] Effects of dietary supplementation of alga Haematococcus pluvialis (Flotow), synthetic astaxanthin and ,-carotene on survival, growth, and pigment distribution of red devil, Cichlasoma citrinellum (Günther)AQUACULTURE RESEARCH, Issue 8 2009C-H Pan Abstract Dietary carotenoids of various types and concentration can affect the pigmentation efficiency in an ornamental fish red devil, Cichlasoma citrinellum. Astaxanthin (AX) containing alga Haematococcus pluvialis, a synthetic AX, and a synthetic ,-carotene (BC) were supplemented in formulated diets at two concentrations, 80 and 160 mg kg,1, resulting in six pigmented diets. Formulated diet without carotenoids supplementation served as a control. These diets were fed to the fish, for 8 weeks. Astaxanthin dominated in body carotenoids deposition. Dietary BC hardly had contribution to body AX. Control fish had much lower AX content in skin, fin and muscle than fish fed pigmented diets, but had equal AX content in liver, intestine and gonad as those fish. Dietary synthetic AX had equal efficiency in depositing AX in skin and fin as natural AX but higher efficiency in gonad than natural AX. Fish fed AX supplemented at 160 mg kg,1, either natural or synthetic AX, had higher AX content in skin than fish at 80 mg kg,1 but had equal AX content in fin as fish at 80 mg kg,1. Disregarding the treatment effects, the overall average AX content in tissue in descending order was gonad>fin,(intestine=skin)>liver>muscle. [source] | ||||||||||