Testosterone Coordinates Gene Expression Across Different Tissues to Produce Carotenoid-Based Red Ornamentation.

ABSTRACT: Carotenoid pigments underlie most of the red, orange, and yellow visual signals used in mate choice in vertebrates. However, many of the underlying processes surrounding the production of carotenoid-based traits remain unclear due to the complex nature of carotenoid uptake, metabolism, and deposition across tissues. Here, we leverage the ability to experimentally induce the production of a carotenoid-based red plumage patch in the red-backed fairywren (Malurus melanocephalus), a songbird in which red plumage is an important male sexual signal. We experimentally elevated testosterone in unornamented males lacking red plumage to induce the production of ornamentation and compared gene expression in both the liver and feather follicles between unornamented control males, testosterone-implante

SUBMITTER: Khalil S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10072822 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature