Abstract
BackgroundTiming of breeding season of temperate passerines has been considered to be adjusted to their food availability. There is little work to reveal the cell stress responses of the nestlings hatched asynchronized with the food abundance peak, which is important for understanding the physiological link between the timing of breeding and the fitness of offspring.MethodsUsing gene expression level of blood HSP70 and HSP90 as indicators, we compared the cell stress response of Asian Short-toed Lark (Calandrella cheleensis) nestlings hatched under conditions of low, mid or high food (grasshopper nymph) availability in 2017.ResultsNymph biomass, sample time and interaction of these two factors significantly influenced the blood gene expression level of HSP70 and HSP90 of Asian Short-toed Lark nestlings. HSP70 and HSP90 gene expression levels of the nestlings at 14:00 were significantly higher than those at 5:00. At either 5:00 or 14:00, the gene expression levels of HSP70 and HSP90 increase with the decrease of nymph biomass. ConclusionsThese results indicate that food availability is an important environment factor inducing cellular stress of Asian Short-toed Lark nestlings. The interactive effect of the nymph abundance and sample time on the HSPs response may be related with the daily temperature variation of the grassland. Over cell stress response may be one of physiological factor mediating the effect of food availability and the nestling’s fitness.
Highlights
Timing of breeding season of temperate passerines has been considered to be adjusted to their food availability
Simple linear regression analysis showed that the nymph biomass negatively correlated with the gene expression level of HSP70 (5:00, n = 64, R2 = 0.811, Fig. 3a; 14:00, n = 64, R2 = 0.636, Fig. 3c) and HSP90 (5:00, n = 64, R2 = 0.666, Fig. 3b; 14:00, n = 64, R2 = 0.743, Fig. 3d)
The gene expression levels of HSP70 and HSP90 increase with the decrease of nymph biomass (Fig. 3)
Summary
Timing of breeding season of temperate passerines has been considered to be adjusted to their food availability. There is little work to reveal the cell stress responses of the nestlings hatched asynchronized with the food abundance peak, which is important for understanding the physiological link between the timing of breeding and the fitness of offspring. Understanding the stress status of the nestlings hatched in different food conditions is important to reveal the biological mechanism linking the food availability and fitness of offspring. The cellular stress response, an important molecular mechanism involved in maintaining cellular homeostasis, can offset the effects of stress and thereby allow other processes to restore cellular homeostasis (Kultz 2005; Somero 2010). The levels of HSPs can be used as markers to reflect physiological status of the nestlings hatched under different food condition
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
