Attractive birds more immune against bird flu ( A research team at Uppsala University ...)

Attractive birds more immune against bird flu

A research team at Uppsala University, Sweden has shown in a new study, published in the journal Acta Zoologica, that the size of the spot on a male collared flycatcher's forehead reflects how well the immune defence system combats viruses such as avian influenza. The white spot is also attractive to female birds searching for a mate.

Evolutionary biologists have long attempted to explain why individuals of a species differ in appearance and why the choice of a mate is influenced by behaviour and appearance features that cannot reasonably be thought to have any usefulness. Therefore, they have begun to look more and more at the genetics behind what are called secondary sexual characters, such as the tail of a peacock, the stripes of the female gulf pipefish, and the white spot on the forehead of the collared flycatcher. In many species both males and females prefer to mate with those who have the largest or most colourful of these ornaments or who have the most complex song, for instance.

One theory says that the ornaments are clearest on individuals that are in good health and that both the size and the condition of the ornament are heritable. This leads to the question of why evolution did not select the same appearance and good health for all individuals. Is there something in the environment that is constantly changing and can govern the genetics of appearance and health, leading, instead, to diversity?

"More and more evidence indicates that the most changeable part of the environment consists of parasites, bacteria and viruses. All of these, especially viruses, evolve more rapidly than the hosts whose resources they live off of. The host will therefore always be in an important evolutionary race against its diseases," explains Måns Andersson, who directs the research team.

In earlier studies, Andersson and Professor Lars Gustafsson have shown that male Gotlandian collared flycatchers with few dangerous blood parasites have large
'"/>

Source:Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Page: 1 2
Related biology news :

1. Migratory songbirds have a specialized night-vision brain area
2. The lopsided brain: Attention bias is shared by humans and birds
3. Bobbing birds do it for a reason
4. Mother birds increase progesterone to hatch females
5. Overbearing colored light may reveal a second mechanism by which birds interpret magnetic signals
6. Industrial contaminants spread by seabirds in High Arctic, new Canadian study shows
7. Displaced songbirds navigate in the high Arctic
8. Oil spills and climate change double the mortality rate of British seabirds
9. Wild birds help to create human flu vaccine
10. Uniquely human component of language found in gregarious birds
11. Not just the birds

Post Your Comments:

(Date:6/19/2013)... -- New York College of Health Professions announces the publishing ... Office for detecting biometric changes through smart phones, apps ... injured, attacked or killed. This patent is ... Agreements of New York College of Health Professions. ... New York College says, "Our Chairman, ...

(Date:6/19/2013)... expected to contribute to a very large and potentially ... a University of Michigan ecologist and colleagues who released ... Chesapeake Bay. , The Gulf forecast, one of two ... for an oxygen-depleted, or hypoxic, region of between 7,286 ... the 10 largest on record. , The low end ...

(Date:6/19/2013)... provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and ... new open access journal, GeoResJ . , ... and planetary science journals portfolio has its first open ... forum for rapid publication of top research within the ... by six Executive Editors, each covering a different discipline, ...

Breaking Biology News(10 mins):New Technology Using Biometrics Detects If Security Guards Are Attacked, Injured Or Killed 2 New Technology Using Biometrics Detects If Security Guards Are Attacked, Injured Or Killed 3 New Technology Using Biometrics Detects If Security Guards Are Attacked, Injured Or Killed 4 U-M researcher and colleagues predict possible record-setting Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone' 2 U-M researcher and colleagues predict possible record-setting Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone' 3 U-M researcher and colleagues predict possible record-setting Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone' 4

[0] New Technology Using Biometrics Detects If Security Guards Are Attacked, Injured Or Killed [0] U-M researcher and colleagues predict possible record-setting Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone'[0] Elsevier launches open access journal: GeoResJ

... into the atmosphere by power plants and agricultural activities plays ... a global scale, but the impact is greatly amplified in ... research by atmospheric and marine chemists. Ocean acidification ... nitrogen mix with seawater, a process which lowers the pH ...

... an enzyme down a new evolutionary pathway, a team ... form of an enzyme capable of producing a range ... properties. Writing in the current issue (Sept. 9, ... of researchers from the UW-Madison School of Pharmacy describes ...

... the great flood of Noahs generation really occur thousands of ... an ancient tsunami" Will pollution levels in our deep seas ... few of the questions that are being addressed by a ... the non-profit research and education organization, EcoOcean. The ...

Cached Biology News:Acid rain has a disproportionate impact on coastal waters 2 Acid rain has a disproportionate impact on coastal waters 3 Using evolution, UW team creates a template for many new therapeutic agents 2 TAU scientists probe 'deep' questions aboard EcoOcean's environmental research ship 2 TAU scientists probe 'deep' questions aboard EcoOcean's environmental research ship 3

Acid rain has a disproportionate impact on coastal waters Using evolution, UW team creates a template for many new therapeutic agents TAU scientists probe 'deep' questions aboard EcoOcean's environmental research ship

(Date:6/19/2013)... June 19, 2013 Today DuPont Executive ... people to become leaders in the greatest challenge facing ... people in 2050. Borel spoke at the ... in Atlanta, about urgent need for students to contribute ... local, science-based, sustainable and reached in collaboration with others. ...

(Date:6/19/2013)... June 19, 2013 ... presents Innovative Drug Delivery Systems: ... Licensing Opportunities for Generic Pharmaceutical ... There are more than ... drugs approved all over the ...

(Date:6/19/2013)... Canada (PRWEB) June 19, 2013 ... trial business can potentially be worth up to ... this opportunity, the Indian government is taking serious ... trials the process. , This presentation will examine:, ... trial regulations , Immediate and long term ...

(Date:6/19/2013)... (PRWEB) June 18, 2013 A new ... materials, costs and other trends will highlight technical sessions ... California this fall. In its 33rd year, the three-day ... an exhibition of key suppliers, approximately 100 technical presentations ... SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics , ...

Breaking Biology Technology:DuPont Leader Calls for New Generation of Food Visionaries to Fight Hunger 2 Innovative Drug Delivery Systems: Novel Product and Formulation Technology Licensing Opportunities for Generic Pharmaceutical Companies 2 Innovative Drug Delivery Systems: Novel Product and Formulation Technology Licensing Opportunities for Generic Pharmaceutical Companies 3 ‘Big Glass’ and Visions for the Future are on the Program for SPIE Photomask Technology 2 ‘Big Glass’ and Visions for the Future are on the Program for SPIE Photomask Technology 3

[0] DuPont Leader Calls for New Generation of Food Visionaries to Fight Hunger [0] Innovative Drug Delivery Systems: Novel Product and Formulation Technology Licensing Opportunities for Generic Pharmaceutical Companies [0] Navigating the Dynamic Indian Clinical Trial Landscape, New Webinar Hosted by Xtalks [0] ‘Big Glass’ and Visions for the Future are on the Program for SPIE Photomask Technology

... , Evelyn McGown, Ph.D. , Molecular Devices Corporation. ... introduced SPECTRAmax , the first microplate reader equipped ... selection. It was also the first microplate reader capable ... transformed the microplate reader from a limited colorimetric filterbased ...

... , , ... Protein concentration is commonly estimated by measuring the ... extinction coefficient of the protein. The procedure is feasible because ... fixed 1 cm pathlength. Extinction-based protein assays can also be ...

... INTRODUCTION ... either plasmid or chromosomally encoded bacterial enzymes which hydrolyze β -lactam ... serine active site enzymes. One successful approach to combating the serine ... such as clavulanic acid, in combination with a β -lactam antibiotic ...

UV Absorbance Measurements in SpectraMax Microplate Spectrophotometers MaxLine Application Note #32)PathCheck Applied to Measurement of Protein Solutions in the SpectraMax Plus Microplate Spectrophotometer (MaxLine Application Note #26)A Microtiter-based Assay for the Determination of ID50s of b-lactamase Inhibitors Employing Reporter Substrates Detected at UV or Visible Wavelengths (MaxLine Application Note #20)

... high performance miniature stepper motors available in ... frame sizes. These space-efficient 1.8 2-phase stepper ... including medical instrumentation, medical devices, drug discovery ... Meets a wide range of customer needs ...

... nitrogen base (YNB) is a base medium for ... YNB contains ammonium sulfate but does not contain ... are available. Each pouch contains reagents to ... media or 1000 ml of 10X YNB for ...

... description: Designed for use with dishes and ... is a new product number, created to ... no availability yet, please order under the ... service for assistance. Comp Dim: blade L ...

... (Catalog number SCR004) is a specific and ... ES cell differentiation by the determination of ... are the monoclonal antibodies TRA-2-49 (Catalog Number ... permit the detection of Liver / Bone ...

Biology Products:

LV Series Miniature Stepper Motors from Parker Hannifin Corporation Yeast Nitrogen Base from Invitrogen CORNING CELL LIFTER,STERILE from Sigma-Aldrich Alkaline Phosphatase Detection Kit from CHEMICON