From molecules to living systems: historical and contemporary issues in oxidative stress and antioxidant ecology

Abstract

Summary1. Initial work on oxidative stress and antioxidant defences described basic chemical and biochemical properties and processes and applied this information to issues of animal health and husbandry. Seminal experimental investigations on the damaging effects of oxidative stress and the mitigating effects of antioxidant defences were conducted primarily in domesticated organisms. 2. In recent years, ecologists have taken to studying antioxidants and oxidative stress in free-ranging organisms and have integrated principles of oxidative stress into several core evolutionary concepts, such as life-history trade-offs (e.g. survival vs. reproduction), senescence and sexual selection. This initial flurry of studies has provided major advances in our understanding of how antioxidant defences evolve and function. 3. In this overview, it is our goal to provide ecologists with an accessible summary of (i) the biochemical basis and conceptual frameworks behind oxidative stress and antioxidants, (ii) the research questions and hypotheses that are generated by incorporating antioxidants and oxidative stress into models of life-history theory, ageing, mate selection, and honest signalling, and (iii) the trends in the evidence that have emerged from initial studies in these areas. 4. Though much progress has been made on the ecological and evolutionary relevance of antioxidant and oxidative stress physiology, no consensus has emerged regarding the primacy of how oxidative stress challenges or antioxidant limits or values shape organismal life-histories. However, there are many taxonomic biases in studies to date and several ideal environmental systems that are as-of-yet untapped.

Eating increases oxidative damage in a reptile

“…Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are an inadvertent by-product of oxidative phosphorylation in the mitochondria during normal metabolic processes. Increases in ROS result in damage to organic molecules unless they are neutralized by an organism's antioxidant capabilities (Costantini et al, 2010). Because oxidative damage is associated with an array of biological functions (e.g.…”

“…Because oxidative damage is associated with an array of biological functions (e.g. ornamentation, hibernation, immune function and reproductive effort; Costantini et al, 2010), it may be a universal constraint in life history evolution (Dowling and Simmons, 2009;Costantini, 2014). Despite this purported importance of oxidative damage, identifying its main physiological drivers has proven challenging.…”

Role of Cyclonic Storm as Natural Disaster and other Factors on Vulture Mortality in India

“…The status of all of the above biomolecules has a direct or indirect relationship to health and longevity. Therefore, the analysis of OS indices and antioxidant defense parameters is also of immense importance to animal biology, such as in the study of disease susceptibility, organ failure, and longevity in free-ranging organisms [21,59]. Therefore, the role of OS in relation to both the external and internal factors responsible for vulture mortality may be extrapolated.…”

“…The analysis of metabolic indices is immensely important to the study of several core evolutionary concepts in animal biology, such as population ecology, life history tradeoffs, senescence, longevity and sexual selection in free-ranging organisms [59]. Oxidative metabolism is one such metabolic pathway where O 2 performs a major role in directly or indirectly regulating the biochemical processes related to the oxidation of nutrients to produce energy.…”

Are antioxidant capacity and oxidative damage related to biological and autecological characteristics in aquatic insects?

“…A large number of environmental factors can induce oxidative stress in animals, including: oxygen (Hetz and Bradley 2005;Lushachack et al, 2005;Storey and Storey, 2010;Costantini, 2014;Hermes-Lima et al, 2015), temperature (Laurette et al, 2011;Jena et al, 2013) and feeding habits (Barbehenn, 2002(Barbehenn, , 2003Kim et al, 2007;Martínez-Ál-varez et al, 2005;Sanz et al, 2010) are directly related to ROS production (Ahmad, 1995). Oxidative stress is a strong evolutionary and ecological force (Costantini et al, 2010;Costantini, 2014).…”