HPLC system to study the ecology and evolution of vertebrate pigments

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Carotenoid pigments, which are responsible for producing red, orange, and yellow colours, are nearly ubiquitous as animal colorants. As potent antioxidants, carotenoids are also known to play an important role in promoting immune health in humans and other animals. The complex interaction between these dietary pigments, immune function, and ornamentation has contributed to the development of carotenoid-based signaling as a model system for studying the evolution of bright coloration in animals. In addition, carotenoid deposition provides a direct link between diet and health, presenting opportunities to investigate how ecological differences in diet influence the allocation of carotenoids to maintenance, ornamentation, or reproduction, and the fitness consequences of different allocation strategies. The support requested from NSERC will fund a High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) system. Such a system is essential for identifying and quantifying carotenoids in food items, plasma, tissues, eggs, and ornamental traits. The requested HPLC system will foster collaborative research across 4 active research laboratories in Ontario and will contribute to the specialized training of several graduate students, undergraduate students, and technicians. In addition, the requested infrastructure will place Canadian researches at the forefront of this exciting field of research. Our respective research programs will investigate multiple functions of carotenoid deposition in birds and fishes. Our investigations will provide key insights into the relationship between diet, immune function, and ornamentation and will shed new light on the evolution of carotenoid signaling systems. In addition, by elucidating the health benefits of carotenoids, our findings will have broad implications for a diversity of vertebrate taxa, including humans.