DISSERTATION RESEARCH: What you see is what you get: behavioral implications of retinal carotenoid accumulation

论文研究：所见即所得：视网膜类胡萝卜素积累的行为影响

• 批准号: 0910357
• 负责人: Kevin McGraw
• 金额: $ 1.14万
• 依托单位: Arizona State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-06-15 至 2011-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0910357&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; What; see; what

The elaborate and diverse visual displays of animals have inspired biologists and challenged our understanding of evolution for centuries. Many colorful displays are costly to produce, making them reliable signals of an individual's quality to mates and rivals. In this signaling system, the perception of color is essential; however, relatively little is known about the costs of and constraints on the performance of the visual system. Yellow, orange, and red carotenoid pigments are the basis of the colorful displays of many bird species, including the house finch (Carpodacus mexicanus), and carotenoid coloration is affected by an individual's health and dietary access to these pigments. Interestingly, carotenoids also accumulate in the avian eye where they filter light, protect the eye, and tune color vision. Therefore, carotenoid pigments may provide a unique biochemical link between the production and perception of colorful visual displays.The investigators will use dietary manipulations, biochemical analyses, and behavioral experiments to investigate how carotenoid accumulation in the eye affects color-based foraging and mate selection of house finches. They will change carotenoid levels in the eye by feeding the birds diets with high and low levels of carotenoid pigments and then compare the foraging and mate choice for colorful plumage in a series of behavioral experiments.These studies provide a new direction for the study of signal and sensory system evolution. Results will be published in scientific and layperson (e.g. magazines and public presentations) forums to foster scientific learning among broader audiences. These studies will provide opportunities for undergraduate, minority, and youth scholars within the institution and community to participate in laboratory analyses and behavioral experiments.

几个世纪以来，动物精致而多样的视觉展示激发了生物学家的灵感，并挑战了我们对进化的理解。许多彩色显示器的生产成本很高，这使其成为向配偶和竞争对手传达个人品质的可靠信号。在这个信号系统中，颜色感知至关重要。然而，人们对视觉系统的成本和性能限制知之甚少。黄色、橙色和红色类胡萝卜素色素是许多鸟类（包括家雀（Carpodacus mexicanus））色彩缤纷的基础，类胡萝卜素的颜色受到个人健康和饮食中获取这些色素的影响。有趣的是，类胡萝卜素也会积聚在禽眼中，它们可以过滤光线、保护眼睛并调节色觉。 因此，类胡萝卜素色素可能在彩色视觉显示的产生和感知之间提供独特的生化联系。研究人员将利用饮食操作、生化分析和行为实验来研究类胡萝卜素在眼睛中的积累如何影响家雀基于颜色的觅食和配偶选择。他们将通过给鸟类喂食高水平和低水平的类胡萝卜素色素来改变眼睛中的类胡萝卜素水平，然后在一系列行为实验中比较彩色羽毛的觅食和配偶选择。这些研究为信号和感觉系统进化的研究提供了新的方向。结果将在科学和非专业人士（例如杂志和公开演讲）论坛上发布，以促进更广泛受众的科学学习。这些研究将为机构和社区内的本科生、少数族裔和青年学者提供参与实验室分析和行为实验的机会。