Genetic covariance between indices of body condition and immunocompetence in a passerine bird

Gleeson, D. J.; Blows, Mark W.; Owens, Ian P. F.

doi:10.1186/1471-2148-5-61

Cited by 32 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Although compelling examples of trade-offs between immunity and other life-history functions have been documented (Ilmonen et al 2000, Casto et al 2001, Hanssen et al 2004, Ardia 2005b, Martin et al 2008, Knowles et al 2009), results are frequently mixed and context-dependent (Williams et al 1999, Lochmiller and Deerenberg 2000, Norris and Evans 2000, Bowers et al 2012). A recent analysis of a subset of nestlings involved in this study indicates that PHA responsiveness is positively correlated with body mass (Forsman et al 2010, see also Westneat et al 2004, Gleeson et al 2005 for similar examples in other study species), contrary to what might be predicted if growth and immunodevelopment are traded off against each other. Thus, our findings for body condition and immune responsiveness are consistent with the concept of individual quality or the ability to acquire resources as a mediator of life-history trade-offs (van Noordwijk and de Jong 1986, Ardia 2005a, Love et al 2008, Hamel et al 2009a,b; Wilson and Nussey 2010, French et al 2011), contributing to variation in fitness within populations.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 58%

Neonatal body condition, immune responsiveness, and hematocrit predict longevity in a wild bird population

Bowers

Hodges

Forsman

et al. 2014

Ecology

131

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Measures of body condition, immune function, and hematological health are widely used in ecological studies of vertebrate populations, predicated on the assumption that these traits are linked to fitness. However, compelling evidence that these traits actually predict long-term survival and reproductive success among individuals in the wild is lacking. Here, we show that body condition (i.e., size-adjusted body mass) and cutaneous immune responsiveness to phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) injection among neonates positively predict recruitment and subsequent longevity in a wild, migratory population of house wrens (Troglodytes aedon). However, neonates with intermediate hematocrit had the highest recruitment and longevity. Neonates with the highest PHA responsiveness and intermediate hematocrit prior to independence eventually produced the most offspring during their lifetime breeding on the study site. Importantly, the effects of PHA responsiveness and hematocrit were revealed while controlling for variation in body condition, sex, and environmental variation. Thus, our data demonstrate that body condition, cutaneous immune responsiveness, and hematocrit as a neonate are associated with individual fitness. Although hematocrit's effect is more complex than traditionally thought, our results suggest a previously underappreciated role for this trait in influencing survival in the wild.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 58%

Neonatal body condition, immune responsiveness, and hematocrit predict longevity in a wild bird population

Bowers

Hodges

Forsman

et al. 2014

Ecology

131

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“…Previous studies showed that this measure is negatively correlated with a stressful growth situation, in terms of both nutritional and hormonal stress, in passerine birds (e.g. [ 23 - 25 ]). In house sparrows, female condition is a positive predictor of laying date, clutch size and number of fledglings ([ 26 ] and see Methods).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Only females in poor condition display a clear preference and prefer males with an average badge

Griggio

Hoi

2010

BMC Evol Biol

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BackgroundFemale condition-dependent variation in mate preference may have important evolutionary implications, not only within the same population but also among populations. There are few experiments, however, on how condition and/or genotype influences female mate preferences. The black throat patch of the male house sparrow, Passer domesticus, is an intensively studied plumage trait. It is often referred to as a 'badge of status' and seems to be involved in female mate choice, but differences exist among populations. Between-population variation in mate preference may occur for condition-dependent mate preferences. We tested the hypothesis that female preference may vary with female quality (body condition). Therefore, we measured female preference for badge size using an aviary two-choice test in which females were presented with two males that had different sizes of badges (enlarged or averaged).ResultsOverall we did not find a female preference for enlarged or average badges, but low-quality females spent more time near average badge males. Conversely, high-quality females did not show a clear preference.ConclusionsCollectively, these results indicate that female preference varies with female quality. Differences in female condition are causes of within-population variation in mating preferences. To our knowledge, our results provide one of the first experimental evidences that variation in preference for a male ornament is associated with female condition. In our study, however, only females of low condition displayed a clear mate preference. Differences observed among populations could be partly explained by differences in female condition.

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“…In contrast, most quantitative genetic techniques require breeding experiments and are consequently largely restricted to laboratory or agricultural studies ( Falconer & Mackay 1996). Animal models have now been applied to a number of populations to tackle questions as diverse as the heritability of fitness (Kruuk et al 2000), evolutionary stasis (Merilä et al 2001;Kruuk et al 2002), sexual selection and coloration Hadfield et al , 2007, condition dependence (Gleeson et al 2005), parental care (MacColl & Hatchwell 2003), the genetic consequences of harvesting (Coltman et al 2003) and the evolutionary response to climate change (Brommer et al 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pedigree-free animal models: the relatedness matrix reloaded

et al. 2008

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Animal models typically require a known genetic pedigree to estimate quantitative genetic parameters. Here we test whether animal models can alternatively be based on estimates of relatedness derived entirely from molecular marker data. Our case study is the morphology of a wild bird population, for which we report estimates of the genetic variance-covariance matrices (G ) of six morphological traits using three methods: the traditional animal model; a molecular marker-based approach to estimate heritability based on Ritland's pairwise regression method; and a new approach using a molecular genealogy arranged in a relatedness matrix (R) to replace the pedigree in an animal model. Using the traditional animal model, we found significant genetic variance for all six traits and positive genetic covariance among traits. The pairwise regression method did not return reliable estimates of quantitative genetic parameters in this population, with estimates of genetic variance and covariance typically being very small or negative. In contrast, we found mixed evidence for the use of the pedigree-free animal model. Similar to the pairwise regression method, the pedigree-free approach performed poorly when the full-rank R matrix based on the molecular genealogy was employed. However, performance improved substantially when we reduced the dimensionality of the R matrix in order to maximize the signal to noise ratio. Using reduced-rank R matrices generated estimates of genetic variance that were much closer to those from the traditional model. Nevertheless, this method was less reliable at estimating covariances, which were often estimated to be negative. Taken together, these results suggest that pedigree-free animal models can recover quantitative genetic information, although the signal remains relatively weak. It remains to be determined whether this problem can be overcome by the use of a more powerful battery of molecular markers and improved methods for reconstructing genealogies.

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Genetic covariance between indices of body condition and immunocompetence in a passerine bird

Cited by 32 publications

References 57 publications

Neonatal body condition, immune responsiveness, and hematocrit predict longevity in a wild bird population

Neonatal body condition, immune responsiveness, and hematocrit predict longevity in a wild bird population

Only females in poor condition display a clear preference and prefer males with an average badge

Pedigree-free animal models: the relatedness matrix reloaded

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