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89 results for “house sparrow”
Total H3 acetylation in house sparrows
<p class="MsoNormal">Epigenetic mechanisms are increasingly understood to have major impacts across ecology. However, one molecular epigenetic mechanism, DNA methylation, currently dominates the literature. A second mechanism, histone modification, is likely important to ecologically relevant phenotypes and thus warrants investigation, especially because molecular interplay between methylation and histone acetylation can strongly affect gene expression. There are a limited number of histone acetylation studies on non-model organisms, yet those that exist show that it can impact gene expression and phenotypic plasticity. Wild birds provide an excellent system to investigate histone acetylation, as free-living individuals must rapidly adjust to environmental change. Here, we screen histone acetylation in the house sparrow (<em>Passer domesticus</em>); we studied this species because DNA methylation was important in the spread of this bird globally. This species has one of the broadest geographic distributions in the world, and part of this success is related to the way that it uses methylation to its gene expression. Here, we verify that a commercially available assay that was developed for mammals can be used in house sparrows. We detected high variance in histone acetylation among individuals in both liver and spleen tissue. Further, house sparrows with higher epigenetic potential in the <em>TLR-4</em> promoter (i.e., CpG content) had higher histone acetylation in liver. Also, there was a negative correlation between histone acetylation in spleen and <em>TLR-4 </em>expression. In addition to validating a method for measuring histone acetylation in wild songbirds, this study also shows that histone acetylation varies in an ecologically relevant way, adding a new study option for ecological epigenetics.</p>
Cross-generational stressors affect telomeres and survival in house sparrows
<p>Parental stress often has long-term consequences for offspring. However, the mechanisms underlying these effects and how they are shaped by conditions offspring subsequently experience are poorly understood. Telomeres, which often shorten in response to stress and predict longevity, may contribute to, and/or reflect these cross-generational effects. Traditionally, parental stress is expected to have negative effects on offspring telomeres, but experimental studies in captive animals suggest that these effects may depend on the subsequent conditions that offspring experience. Yet, the degree to which parental stress influences and interacts with stress experienced by offspring to affect offspring telomeres and survival in free-living organisms is unknown. To assess this, we experimentally manipulated the stress exposure of free-living parent and offspring house sparrows (<em>Passer domesticus</em>). We found a weak, initial, negative effect of parental stress on offspring telomeres, but this effect was no longer evident at the end of post-natal development. Instead, the effects of parental stress depended on the natural sources of stress that offspring experienced during post-natal development whereby some outcomes were improved under more stressful rearing conditions. Thus, the effects of parental stress on offspring telomeres and survival are context-dependent and may involve compensatory mechanisms of potential benefit under some circumstances.</p>
Data from: Infection by a helminth parasite is associated with changes in DNA methylation in the house sparrow
<p>Parasites can exert strong selective pressures on their hosts and influence the evolution of host immunity. While several studies have examined the genetic basis for parasite resistance, the role of epigenetics in the immune response to parasites is less understood. Yet, epigenetic modifications, such as changes in DNA methylation, may allow species to respond rapidly to parasite prevalence or virulence. To test the role of DNA methylation in relation to parasite infection we examined genome-wide DNA methylation before and during infection by a parasitic nematode, <em>Syngamus trachea</em>, in a natural population of house sparrows (<em>Passer domesticus</em>) using reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS). We found that DNA methylation levels were slightly lower in infected house sparrows, and identified candidate genes relating to the initial immune response, activation of innate and adaptive immunity, and mucus membrane functional integrity that were differentially methylated between infected and control birds. Subsequently, we used methylation-sensitive high-resolution melting (MS-HRM) analyses to verify the relationship between methylation proportion and <em>Syngamus trachea </em>infection status at two candidate genes in a larger sample dataset. We found that methylation level at <em>NR1D1</em>, but not <em>CLDN22</em>, remained related to infection status, and that juvenile recruitment probability was positively related to methylation level at <em>NR1D1</em>. This underscores the importance of performing follow up studies on candidate genes. Our findings demonstrate that plasticity in the immune response to parasites can be epigenetically mediated, and <span>highlight</span><span> </span><span>the potential for epigenetic studies </span><span>in natural populations </span><span>to provide </span><span>further</span><span> mechanistic </span><span>insight</span><span> </span><span>into</span><span> host-parasite interactions.</span></p>
Behavioral responses to a series of similar but distinct novel objects in house sparrows
<p>Generalization refers to the process by which animals assign different stimuli into cognitive categories based on their similarity/dissimilarity to previously experienced stimuli. Stimuli which strongly deviate from previous experience may be avoided due to their novelty (i.e., neophobia), while stimuli which are sufficiently similar to a known/recognized cue may elicit the same response as that cue (i.e., generalization). While generalization has been widely researched, few studies have examined among-individual variance in its expression. Our study quantified among-individual variation in neophobia and generalization in house sparrows (<em>Passer domesticus</em>) by placing a series of different objects next to each subject's food source on successive days and measuring the subject's latency to approach the food source in the presence vs. absence of each object. Similarly to previous work, we found that house sparrows are neophobic on average and exhibit significant among-individual variance in neophobia. More interestingly, we found that the neophobic response declined across presentations of different novel objects. This implies that the sparrows generalized some aspect(s) of the objects. We also found significant among-individual variance in the rate at which approach latency changed across this series, possibly reflecting individual differences in propensity to generalize. These results raise new questions about how neophobia, habituation, and generalization are linked and about the potential for selection to act on these traits under different ecological conditions.</p>
Total H3 acetylation in house sparrows
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Data from: Resistance to gapeworm parasite has both additive and dominant genetic components in house sparrows, with evolutionary consequences for ability to respond to parasite challenge
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Divorce and extra-pair paternity in the Lundy house sparrows
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Data from: Costs of immunity and their role in the range expansion of the house sparrow in Kenya
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Data from: Infection by a helminth parasite is associated with changes in DNA methylation in the house sparrow
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Data from: Innate and adaptive immune proteins in the preen gland secretions of male house sparrows
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Data from: Consistent scaling of inbreeding depression in space and time in a house sparrow metapopulation
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No, you go first: phenotype and social context affect house sparrow neophobia
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Cross-generational stressors affect telomeres and survival in house sparrows
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Data from: Simulated infection induced changes in DNA methylation differ between introduced and native house sparrow (Passer domesticus)
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Spectral composition of light pollution affects melatonin suppression and West Nile virus infection resistance and mortality in the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus).
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Behavioral responses to a series of similar but distinct novel objects in house sparrows
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Data from: Characterizing morphological (co)variation using structural equation models: body size, allometric relationships and evolvability in a house sparrow metapopulation
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Data from: Are house sparrow populations limited by the lack of cavities in urbanized landscapes? an experimental test.
Current urban policies are associated with deep changes in urban structures, which may impoverish urban biodiversity. A major concern is the disappearance of nesting sites for wild vertebrate species living in urban areas. New urban structures without any cracks or cavities may especially preclude cavity nesters from breeding in cities and they may cause population declines. In that context, we experimentally investigated this question in an urban exploiter bird species (the house sparrow, Passer domesticus), which is dramatically declining in most European cities. To test if the lack of cavities is limiting house sparrow populations in urban areas, we equipped 11 sites along an urbanization gradient with nest boxes and we then evaluated the rate of occupancy of these nest-boxes. This urbanization gradient was characterized by very rural places (isolated farms) and moderately urbanized areas (town of medium size, i.e. 60 000 inhabitants). Surprisingly, rural nest boxes were more occupied than urban ones, suggesting that cavity availability is probably more constraining in rural areas relative to urban ones. Therefore, our study suggests that urban house sparrow populations are probably not constrained by a lack of nesting sites in medium size cities with urban designs similar to our city of interest (Niort, Western France). This hypothesis definitely needs now to be tested in further urban landscapes (e.g. large cities and urban landscapes with other architecture and management policies).
Data from: Stress hormone receptors change as range expansion progresses in house sparrows
As ranges expand, individuals encounter different environments at the periphery than at the centre of the range. Previously, we have shown that glucocorticoids (GCs) vary with range expansion: individuals at the range edge release more GCs in response to restraint. Here, we measured hippocampal mRNA expression of GC receptors (mineralocorticoid, MR and glucocorticoid, GR) in eight house sparrow (Passer domesticus) populations varying in age. We found that individuals closest to the range edge had the lowest expression of MR relative to GR; in all likelihood, this relationship was driven by a marginal reduction of MR mRNA at the range edge. Reduced MR (relative to GR) might allow enhanced GC binding to GR, the lower affinity receptor that would enhance a rapid physiological and behavioural response to stressors. The insights gained from this study are not only enlightening to introduced species, but may also predict how certain species will react as their ranges shift owing to anthropogenic changes.
Data from: Environmental selection is a main driver of divergence in house sparrows (Passer domesticus) in Romania and Bulgaria
Both neutral and adaptive evolutionary processes can cause population divergence, but their relative contributions remain unclear. We investigated the roles of these processes in population divergence in house sparrows (Passer domesticus) from Romania and Bulgaria, regions characterized by high landscape heterogeneity compared to Western Europe. We asked whether morphological divergence, complemented with genetic data in this human commensal species, was best explained by environmental variation, geographic distance, or landscape resistance—the effort it takes for an individual to disperse from one location to the other—caused by either natural or anthropogenic barriers. Using generalized dissimilarity modeling, a matrix regression technique that fits biotic beta diversity to both environmental predictors and geographic distance, we found that a small set of climate and vegetation variables explained up to ~30% of the observed divergence, whereas geographic and resistance distances played much lesser roles. Our results are consistent with signals of selection on morphological traits and of isolation by adaptation in genetic markers, suggesting that selection by natural environmental conditions shapes population divergence in house sparrows. Our study thus contributes to a growing body of evidence that adaptive evolution may be a major driver of diversification.
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Allen Brain Atlas
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International Brain Laboratory public data
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OpenNeuro
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