Kraft Fanny-Linn O H, Driscoll Stephanie C, Buchanan Katherine L, Crino Ondi L
Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
Gen Comp Endocrinol. 2019 Feb 1;272:33-41. doi: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2018.11.008. Epub 2018 Nov 16.
Animals exposed to stressful developmental conditions can experience sustained physiological, behavioral, and fitness effects. While extensive research shows how developmental stress affects development, few studies have examined the effects on body composition. To test the effects of developmental stress on nestling and adult body composition, we dosed nestling zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) with either a corticosterone (CORT) or control treatment. We calculated condition indices (scaled mass, residual mass, and ratio indices) from morphometric measurements and used quantitative magnetic resonance (QMR) to assess body composition during early development and adulthood. We compared these three traditionally-used condition indices to QMR-derived body composition measurements, to test how well they predict relative fat mass. Our results show that developmental stress decreases body mass, and has a dose-dependent effect on tarsus length in nestling birds. Furthermore, stress treatment during the nestling period had long-lasting effects on adult body mass, lean mass and tarsus length. None of the three condition indices were good indicators of relative fat mass in nestlings, but all indices were closely associated with relative fat mass in adults. The scaled mass index was more closely associated with relative fat mass than the other condition indices, when calculated from wing chord length in nestlings. In adults however, the residual mass index and the ratio index were better indicators of relative body fat than the scaled mass index, when calculated from tarsus length. Our data demonstrate the short and long-term impact of developmental stress on birds, and highlight important age-related factors to consider when using condition indices.
暴露于应激性发育条件下的动物可能会经历持续的生理、行为和健康方面的影响。虽然大量研究表明发育应激如何影响发育，但很少有研究考察其对身体组成的影响。为了测试发育应激对雏鸟和成鸟身体组成的影响，我们给雏鸟斑胸草雀（Taeniopygia guttata）分别施以皮质酮（CORT）处理或对照处理。我们根据形态测量数据计算了身体状况指数（标度质量、剩余质量和比率指数），并使用定量磁共振（QMR）来评估早期发育阶段和成年期的身体组成。我们将这三个传统使用的身体状况指数与QMR得出的身体组成测量值进行比较，以测试它们预测相对脂肪量的能力。我们的结果表明，发育应激会降低体重，并且对雏鸟的跗骨长度有剂量依赖性影响。此外，雏鸟期的应激处理对成年后的体重、瘦体重和跗骨长度有长期影响。这三个身体状况指数都不是雏鸟相对脂肪量的良好指标，但所有指数都与成年鸟的相对脂肪量密切相关。当根据雏鸟的翅长计算时，标度质量指数比其他身体状况指数与相对脂肪量的关联更紧密。然而，在成年鸟中，当根据跗骨长度计算时，剩余质量指数和比率指数比标度质量指数更能体现相对体脂情况。我们的数据证明了发育应激对鸟类的短期和长期影响，并突出了在使用身体状况指数时需要考虑的重要年龄相关因素。
