More than just the numbers—contrasting response of snake erythrocytes to thermal acclimation

Bury, Stanisław; Bury, Agata; Sadowska, Edyta T.; Cichoń, Mariusz; Bauchinger, Ulf

doi:10.1007/s00114-019-1617-x

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Simultaneous adjustments in red blood cell number, haematocrit and haemoglobin content often occur in response to changes in environmental and physiological conditions [114,[117][118][119]. Our study shows that such parallel responses are not consistent and might depend on additional changes in other blood-related traits.…”

Section: Phenotypic Flexibility In Erythrocyte Size and Number And It...mentioning

confidence: 63%

Concerted phenotypic flexibility of avian erythrocyte size and number in response to dietary anthocyanin supplementation

et al. 2023

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Background Endurance flight impose substantial oxidative costs on the avian oxygen delivery system. In particular, the accumulation of irreversible damage in red blood cells can reduce the capacity of blood to transport oxygen and limit aerobic performance. Many songbirds consume large amounts of anthocyanin-rich fruit, which is hypothesized to reduce oxidative costs, enhance post-flight regeneration, and enable greater aerobic capacity. While their antioxidant benefits appear most straightforward, the effects of anthocyanins on blood composition remain so far unknown. We fed thirty hand-raised European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) two semisynthetic diets (with or without anthocyanin supplement) and manipulated the extent of flight activity in a wind tunnel (daily flying or non-flying for over two weeks) to test for their interactive effects on functionally important haematological variables. Results Supplemented birds had on average 15% more and 4% smaller red blood cells compared to non-supplemented individuals and these diet effects were independent of flight manipulation. Haemoglobin content was 7% higher in non-supplemented flying birds compared to non-flying birds, while similar haemoglobin content was observed among supplemented birds that were flown or not. Neither diet nor flight activity influenced haematocrit. Conclusion The concerted adjustments suggest that supplementation generally improved antioxidant protection in blood, which could prevent the excess removal of cells from the bloodstream and may have several implications on the oxygen delivery system, including improved gas exchange and blood flow. The flexible haematological response to dietary anthocyanins may also suggest that free-ranging species preferentially consume anthocyanin-rich fruits for their natural blood doping, oxygen delivery-enhancement effects.

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Section: Phenotypic Flexibility In Erythrocyte Size and Number And It...mentioning

confidence: 63%

Concerted phenotypic flexibility of avian erythrocyte size and number in response to dietary anthocyanin supplementation

et al. 2023

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“…Besides size and morphology, erythrocyte deformability can be influenced by other cellular factors such as cell membrane and cytoskeletal properties or intracellular viscosity [46,47]. Other factors affecting blood rheology and viscosity may include adjustments in haematological traits such as erythrocyte number and haematocrit [8,19,48] or changes in blood parameters such as osmolality or plasma viscosity [12,49,50]. Another limitation of our study is that we are in reptiles missing three-dimensional data on cell and nucleus size and shape, and we are still limited to two-dimensional data from blood smears.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Are erythrocytes adapted to easier circulation, even when we did not find convincing support for either of our hypotheses on their morphology? Erythrocytes express considerable phenotypic plasticity and flexibility in size in response to energy requirements [ 8 , 44 , 45 ]. Such dynamic size variation might attenuate constraints imposed by shape or nucleus [ 8 ], but was not covered in our study.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Empirical data indicate a correlation between erythrocyte size and energy expenditure. For example, interspecific variation in standard metabolic rate in geckos and birds is inversely related to erythrocyte size, and snakes maintained at a higher temperature having higher metabolic rate tend to express smaller erythrocytes [ 6 – 8 ]. The higher efficiency of small erythrocyte size for oxygen uptake and release was demonstrated in vitro as well [ 9 , 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Scaling of erythrocyte shape and nucleus size among squamate reptiles: reanalysis points to constrained, proportional rather than adaptive changes

2023

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Small erythrocytes might be beneficial for blood rheology, as they contribute less to blood viscosity than large erythrocytes. We predicted that rheological disadvantages of larger erythrocytes could be alleviated by relatively smaller nucleus size in larger cells allowing higher flexibility and by more elongated shape. Across squamate reptiles, we found that species with larger erythrocytes tend to have smaller ratio of nucleus size to cell size (N : C ratio), but that larger erythrocytes tend to be rounder, not more elongated. Nevertheless, we document that in fact nucleus area changes with erythrocyte area more or less linearly, which is also true for the relationship between cell length and cell width. These linear relationships suggest that nucleus size and cell size, and cell width and cell length, might be constrained to largely proportional mutual changes. The shifts in widely used N : C ratio and elongation ratio (cell length/cell width) with cell size might be misleading, as they do not reflect adaptive or maladaptive changes of erythrocytes, but rather mathematically trivial scaling of the ratios of two variables with a linear relationship with non-zero intercepts. We warn that ratio scaling without analyses of underlying patterns of evolutionary changes can lead to misinterpretation of evolutionary processes.

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“…High temperatures lead to higher metabolic rates and oxygen consumption (e.g. Clark et al, 2006) and in turn, across and within species, higher metabolic rates are associated with smaller erythrocyte size (Bury et al, 2019; Czarnoleski et al, 2017; Goodman & Heath, 2010; Gregory, 2002; Starostová et al, 2009). This further emphasizes the importance of mode of life and environmental conditions as important drivers of erythrocyte size.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological and life‐history correlates of erythrocyte size and shape in Lepidosauria

Penman

Deeming

Soulsbury

2022

J of Evolutionary Biology

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Blood oxygen‐carrying capacity is shaped both by the ambient oxygen availability as well as species‐specific oxygen demand. Erythrocytes are a critical part of oxygen transport and both their size and shape can change in relation to species‐specific life‐history, behavioural or ecological conditions. Here, we test whether components of the environment (altitude), life history (reproductive mode, body temperature) and behaviour (diving, foraging mode) drive erythrocyte size variation in the Lepidosauria (lizards, snakes and rhynchocephalians). We collected data on erythrocyte size (area) and shape (L/W: elongation ratio) from Lepidosauria across the globe (N = 235 species). Our analyses show the importance of oxygen requirements as a driver of erythrocyte size. Smaller erythrocytes were associated with the need for faster delivery (active foragers, high‐altitude species, warmer body temperatures), whereas species with greater oxygen demands (diving species, viviparous species) had larger erythrocytes. Erythrocyte size shows considerable cross‐species variation, with a range of factors linked to the oxygen delivery requirements being major drivers of these differences. A key future aspect for study would include within‐individual plasticity and how changing states, for example, pregnancy, perhaps alter the size and shape of erythrocytes in Lepidosaurs.

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More than just the numbers—contrasting response of snake erythrocytes to thermal acclimation

Cited by 4 publications

References 40 publications

Concerted phenotypic flexibility of avian erythrocyte size and number in response to dietary anthocyanin supplementation

Concerted phenotypic flexibility of avian erythrocyte size and number in response to dietary anthocyanin supplementation

Scaling of erythrocyte shape and nucleus size among squamate reptiles: reanalysis points to constrained, proportional rather than adaptive changes

Ecological and life‐history correlates of erythrocyte size and shape in Lepidosauria

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