| 1. |
- Both, Adrianus, 1985-, et al.
(author)
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Solubilization of nutritional lipids from three coastal and estuarine primary producers using sodium taurocholate as a model surfactant to mimic typical consumer gut-fluids
- 2022
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In: Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. - : Elsevier. - 0022-0981 .- 1879-1697. ; 548
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Coastal and estuarine food webs receive large inputs of both autochthonous and allochthonous detritus, which serves as an important dietary input for a variety of detritivorous and omnivorous organisms. Surfactants, which aid digestion by solubilizing hydrophobic lipids, are found in the gut-fluids of many fish and invertebrate consumers. To develop a biomimetic assay to explore how source of primary production and age may affect the bioavailability of nutritional lipids from detrital food sources, we assessed the capacity of a model surfactant, sodium taurocholate (STC), to solubilize fatty acids from three primary producers, a haptophyte (Isochrysis galbana), a rock-weed (Ascophyllum nodosum), and a marsh grass (Spartina alterniflora). Comparing lipids solubilized by a constant concentration of STC to traditional Folch-extracted yields, we assessed relative bioavailability of nutritional lipids from fresh and decayed material of each primary producer. We focused on the solubilization of storage triacylglycerols (TAG) and the fatty acid constituents of all lipids (FA). With a temperature of 5 °C, 28.7 mM STC solubilized 44 ± 12% of total FA from S. alterniflora and about half that fraction for I. galbana and A. nodosum after 15 h in the dark unstirred. In the form of TAG, STC solubilized 53 ± 19% of pure triolein as a reference and similar proportions from S. alterniflora (56 ± 19%) and I. galbana (48 ± 2%) but only 9 ± 3% from A. nodosum. Both approaches (TAG and FA) thus show significant differences in bioavailability among these three sources. Two months of decay had inconsistent effects on overall lipid yields but substantial effects on composition. Degradation led to decreased total phospholipids and long-chain polyunsaturated FA and increased break-down products (free FA and diacylglycerols), saturated and monounsaturated FA, and bacterial FA. Lower FA bioavailability and reduced degradation rates in A. nodosum may be due to its higher polyphenol and alginate concentrations. Although we mimicked only one component of the digestion process of lipids, this study represents a first step in developing a biomimetic assay to assess the relative bioavailability of nutritional lipids.
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| 2. |
- Both, P., et al.
(author)
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Discrimination of epimeric glycans and glycopeptides using IM-MS and its potential for carbohydrate sequencing
- 2014
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In: Nature Chemistry. - 1755-4330 .- 1755-4349. ; 6:1, s. 65-74
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mass spectrometry is the primary analytical technique used to characterize the complex oligosaccharides that decorate cell surfaces. Monosaccharide building blocks are often simple epimers, which when combined produce diastereomeric glycoconjugates indistinguishable by mass spectrometry. Structure elucidation frequently relies on assumptions that biosynthetic pathways are highly conserved. Here, we show that biosynthetic enzymes can display unexpected promiscuity, with human glycosyltransferase pp-a-GanT2 able to utilize both uridine diphosphate N-acetylglucosamine and uridine diphosphate N-acetylgalactosamine, leading to the synthesis of epimeric glycopeptides in vitro. Ion-mobility mass spectrometry ( IM-MS) was used to separate these structures and, significantly, enabled characterization of the attached glycan based on the drift times of the monosaccharide product ions generated following collision-induced dissociation. Finally, ion-mobility mass spectrometry following fragmentation was used to determine the nature of both the reducing and non-reducing glycans of a series of epimeric disaccharides and the branched pentasaccharide Man3 glycan, demonstrating that this technique may prove useful for the sequencing of complex oligosaccharides.
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| 3. |
- Laaksonen, T., et al.
(author)
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Sympatric divergence and clinal variation in multiple coloration traits of Ficedula flycatchers
- 2015
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In: Journal of Evolutionary Biology. - : Wiley. - 1010-061X .- 1420-9101. ; 28:4, s. 779-790
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Geographic variation in phenotypes plays a key role in fundamental evolutionary processes such as local adaptation, population differentiation and speciation, but the selective forces behind it are rarely known. We found support for the hypothesis that geographic variation in plumage traits of the pied flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca is explained by character displacement with the collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis in the contact zone. The plumage traits of the pied flycatcher differed strongly from the more conspicuous collared flycatcher in a sympatric area but increased in conspicuousness with increasing distance to there. Phenotypic differentiation (P-ST) was higher than that in neutral genetic markers (F-ST), and the effect of geographic distance remained when statistically controlling for neutral genetic differentiation. This suggests that a cline created by character displacement and gene flow explains phenotypic variation across the distribution of this species. The different plumage traits of the pied flycatcher are strongly to moderately correlated, indicating that they evolve non-independently from each other. The flycatchers provide an example of plumage patterns diverging in two species that differ in several aspects of appearance. The divergence in sympatry and convergence in allopatry in these birds provide a possibility to study the evolutionary mechanisms behind the highly divergent avian plumage patterns.
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| 4. |
- Both, C., et al.
(author)
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Large-scale geographical variation confirms that climate change causes birds to lay earlier
- 2004
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In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 271:1549, s. 1657-1662
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Advances in the phenology of organisms are often attributed to climate change, but alternatively, may reflect a publication bias towards advances and may be caused by environmental factors unrelated to climate change. Both factors are investigated using the breeding dates of 25 long-term studied populations of Ficedula flycatchers across Europe. Trends in spring temperature varied markedly between study sites, and across populations the advancement of laying date was stronger in areas where the spring temperatures increased more, giving support to the theory that climate change causally affects breeding date advancement.
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| 5. |
- Both, C., et al.
(author)
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Pied Flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca travelling from Africa to breed in Europe: differential effects of winter and migration conditions on breeding date
- 2006
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In: ARDEA. - 0373-2266 .- 2213-1175. ; 94:3, s. 511-525
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In most bird species there is only a short time window available for optimal breeding due to variation in ecological conditions in a seasonal environment. Long-distance migrants must travel before they start breeding, and conditions at the wintering grounds and during migration may affect travelling speed and hence arrival and breeding dates. These effects are to a large extent determined by climate variables such as rainfall and temperature, and need to be identified to predict how well species can adapt to climate change. In this paper we analyse effects of vegetation growth on the wintering grounds and sites en route on the annual timing of breeding of 17 populations of Pied Flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca studied between 1982–2000. Timing of breeding was largely correlated with local spring temperatures, supplemented by striking effects of African vegetation and NAO. Populations differed in the effects of vegetation growth on the wintering grounds, and on their northern African staging grounds, as well as ecological conditions in Europe as measured by the winter NAO. In general, early breeding populations (low altitude, western European populations) bred earlier in years with more vegetation in the Northern Sahel zone, as well as in Northern Africa. In contrast, late breeding populations (high altitude and northern and eastern populations) advanced their breeding dates when circumstances in Europe were more advanced (high NAO). Thus, timing of breeding in most Pied Flycatcher populations not only depends upon local circumstances, but also on conditions encountered during travelling, and these effects differ across populations dependent on the timing of travelling and breeding.
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| 6. |
- Culina, Antica, et al.
(author)
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Connecting the data landscape of long-term ecological studies : The SPI-Birds data hub
- 2021
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In: Journal of Animal Ecology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0021-8790 .- 1365-2656. ; 90:9, s. 2147-2160
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The integration and synthesis of the data in different areas of science is drastically slowed and hindered by a lack of standards and networking programmes. Long-term studies of individually marked animals are not an exception. These studies are especially important as instrumental for understanding evolutionary and ecological processes in the wild. Furthermore, their number and global distribution provides a unique opportunity to assess the generality of patterns and to address broad-scale global issues (e.g. climate change). To solve data integration issues and enable a new scale of ecological and evolutionary research based on long-term studies of birds, we have created the SPI-Birds Network and Database ()-a large-scale initiative that connects data from, and researchers working on, studies of wild populations of individually recognizable (usually ringed) birds. Within year and a half since the establishment, SPI-Birds has recruited over 120 members, and currently hosts data on almost 1.5 million individual birds collected in 80 populations over 2,000 cumulative years, and counting. SPI-Birds acts as a data hub and a catalogue of studied populations. It prevents data loss, secures easy data finding, use and integration and thus facilitates collaboration and synthesis. We provide community-derived data and meta-data standards and improve data integrity guided by the principles of Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR), and aligned with the existing metadata languages (e.g. ecological meta-data language). The encouraging community involvement stems from SPI-Bird's decentralized approach: research groups retain full control over data use and their way of data management, while SPI-Birds creates tailored pipelines to convert each unique data format into a standard format. We outline the lessons learned, so that other communities (e.g. those working on other taxa) can adapt our successful model. Creating community-specific hubs (such as ours, COMADRE for animal demography, etc.) will aid much-needed large-scale ecological data integration.
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| 7. |
- Drent, R, et al.
(author)
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Pay-offs and penalties of competing migratory schedules
- 2003
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In: Oikos. - : Wiley. - 1600-0706 .- 0030-1299. ; 103:2, s. 274-292
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We relate variation in the timing of arrival by migrating birds breeding at northerly latitudes to individual differences in the prior accumulation of energy stores. Balancing starvation risks early in the season against the almost universal declining trend in reproductive prospects with advancing date is seen as an individual decision with fitness consequences. We review three studies implicating events at the staging sites or in winter in setting the individual migratory schedule. Climate change influences the timetable of a pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) population breeding in The Netherlands and wintering in West Africa, followed since 1960. Mean air temperature in the period mid April-mid May (arrival and laying) increased and laying date advanced by 10 days. Still, in recent years most birds did not lay early enough to maximise fitness (determined by recruitment and parental survival) whereas many parents achieved this goal in 1980-1985. As the flycatchers have not started to arrive earlier, some ecological constraint further upstream is postulated (possibly the hurdle of the crossing of Sahara and Mediterranean). The ability to follow individual migrants provides a second avenue to assess the fitness implications of migratory schedules. Thus, brightly coloured male bar-tailed godwits (Limosa lapponica) captured in the Dutch Wadden Sea (the intermediate staging site linking a West African wintering area with breeding sites in arctic Russia) and traced with miniature radio-transmitters did not depart early. The 'best' males (with bright breeding plumage) were picked up by the listening stations in Sweden 650 km further along the migratory route ten days later than the paler individuals. If early arrival confers the competitive advantage of prior occupancy but increases mortality, the 'best' males may be able to afford arriving later and thus avoid some of the survival costs. Return rate of the 'bright' males to the staging site in later seasons was indeed higher than for the 'pale', early males. Intensive observation of pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus) fitted with coded neck-collars substantiate the tight relationship between energy stores (fat) accumulated up to final departure from the final staging site (Vesteralen, N. Norway) en route to the nesting grounds (Spitsbergen) and subsequent success. The breeding outcome of individual parents (accompanied by juveniles or not) could be related to observations of body condition before departure (visual 'abdominal profile index'). Recently, perceived conflicts with agriculture have resulted in widespread harassment by humans. The geese have: drastically shortened their stay on the Vesteralen, fail to achieve the body condition usual a decade ago and reproductive output has fallen. Although the geese are currently pioneering new staging sites, an adequate alternative has not materialised, underlining the critical role of the final take-off site.
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| 8. |
- Kappers, E. F., et al.
(author)
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Classification and Temporal Stability of Plumage Variation in Common Buzzards
- 2017
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In: Ardea. - : Netherlands Ornithologists' Union. - 0373-2266. ; 105:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Persistent plumage colour polymorphism occurs in around 3.5% of bird species, with raptors showing a disproportionately high frequency of such polymorphisms. The genus Buteo has more polymorphic species than any other raptor genus (15 polymorphic species out of 25). These polymorphisms are interesting from an evolutionary perspective, because they are heritable and hence a good model for understanding mechanisms preserving genetic variation. For evolutionary models, it is important to assess whether discrete morphs exist or whether variation is more continuous. Using image analysis, we show that in Common Buzzards Buteo buteo variation is continuous and unimodal, ranging from very dark to very light individuals. Previous studies on Common Buzzards have used a classification with three discrete morphs. We compared this classification with a seven-scale morph classification used in our study. We used photographs of the same individuals taken at different ages. Even though the plumage gets somewhat darker from juvenile to adult age, morph type did not change substantially.
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| 9. |
- Lehtonen, PK, et al.
(author)
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Candidate genes for colour and vision exhibit signals of selection across the pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) breeding range
- 2012
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In: Heredity. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1365-2540 .- 0018-067X. ; 108:4, s. 431-440
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The role of natural selection in shaping adaptive trait differentiation in natural populations has long been recognized. Determining its molecular basis, however, remains a challenge. Here, we search for signals of selection in candidate genes for colour and its perception in a passerine bird. Pied flycatcher plumage varies geographically in both its structural and pigment-based properties. Both characteristics appear to be shaped by selection. A single-locus outlier test revealed 2 of 14 loci to show significantly elevated signals of divergence. The first of these, the follistatin gene, is expressed in the developing feather bud and is found in pathways with genes that determine the structure of feathers and may thus be important in generating variation in structural colouration. The second is a gene potentially underlying the ability to detect this variation: SWS1 opsin. These two loci were most differentiated in two Spanish pied flycatcher populations, which are also among the populations that have the highest UV reflectance. The follistatin and SWS1 opsin genes thus provide strong candidates for future investigations on the molecular basis of adaptively significant traits and their co-evolution.
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