Antioxidant protection, immune function and growth of nestling great tits Parus major in relation to within-brood hierarchy

Differences in competitive abilities of siblings in birds can be caused by a combination of hatching asynchrony and intra-clutch variation in egg quality. However, very little is known how within-brood hierarchies affect the allocation of resources between different functions of the body. We examine...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2010-11, Vol.157 (3), p.288-293
Main Authors: Kilgas, Priit, Tilgar, Vallo, Külavee, Rauno, Saks, Lauri, Hõrak, Peeter, Mänd, Raivo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Antioxidant protection
Antioxidants - analysis
Early development
Growth
Hatching asynchrony
Parus major
Passeriformes - anatomy & histology
Passeriformes - growth & development
Passeriformes - immunology
Phytohaemagglutinin
Sibling competition
Trade-off
Uric acid
Uric Acid - blood
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Summary:Differences in competitive abilities of siblings in birds can be caused by a combination of hatching asynchrony and intra-clutch variation in egg quality. However, very little is known how within-brood hierarchies affect the allocation of resources between different functions of the body. We examined the effects of within-brood hierarchy on growth of morphological parameters, blood plasma antioxidant protection and immune function of free-living great tit Parus major nestlings. To assure that competitive hierarchies occur, we experimentally delayed the start of incubation of the last two eggs in the clutch. At pre-fledging stage (day 13 post-hatch), late-hatched nestlings were smaller in body mass and wing length when compared to early-hatched nestlings, but no differences between siblings were found in tarsus length, plasma antioxidant potential, uric acid concentration, residual antioxidant potential (from regression with uric acid), hematocrit and response to phytohaemagglutinin injection. In early-hatched nestlings, the antioxidant potential and residual antioxidant potential measured in the middle of nestling period (day 6 post-hatch) were negatively related to body mass growth at early nestling stage, indicating that fast initial growth could reduce antioxidant properties of blood plasma.
ISSN:1096-4959
1879-1107
DOI:10.1016/j.cbpb.2010.07.002