Content with tag pigmentation .

Unprecedented high catecholamine production causing hair pigmentation after urinary excretion in red deer

Unprecedented high catecholamine production causing hair pigmentation after urinary excretion in red deer

Hormones have not been found in concentrations of orders of magnitude higher than nanograms per milliliter. This study reports urine concentrations of a catecholamine (norepinephrine) ranging from 0.05 to 0.5 g/l, and concentrations of its metabolite dl-3,4-dihydroxyphenyl glycol (DOPEG) ranging from 1.0 to 44.5 g/l, in wild male red deer Cervus elaphus hispanicus after LC–MS analyses. The dark ventral patch of male red deer, a recently described sexually selected signal, contains high amounts of DOPEG (0.9–266.9 mg/l) stuck in the hairs, while DOPEG is not present in non-darkened hair. The formation of this dark patch is explained by the chemical structure of DOPEG, which is a catecholamine-derived o-diphenol susceptible to be oxidized by air and form allomelanins, nitrogen-free pigments similar to cutaneous melanins; by its high concentration in urine; and by the urine spraying behavior of red deer by which urine is spread through the ventral body area. Accordingly, the size of the dark ventral patch was positively correlated with the concentration of DOPEG in urine, which was in turn correlated with DOPEG absorbed in ventral hair. These findings represent catecholamine concentrations about one million higher than those previously reported for any hormone in an organism. This may have favored the evolution of the dark ventral patch of red deer by transferring information on the fighting capacity to rivals and mates. Physiological limits for hormone production in animals are thus considerably higher than previously thought. These results also unveil a novel mechanism of pigmentation based on the self-application of urine over the fur. informacion[at]ebd.csic.es: Galván et al (2018) Unprecedented high catecholamine production causing hair pigmentation after urinary excretion in red deer. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-018-2962-1


https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00018-018-2962-1

Content with tag pigmentation .

Unprecedented high catecholamine production causing hair pigmentation after urinary excretion in red deer

Hormones have not been found in concentrations of orders of magnitude higher than nanograms per milliliter. This study reports urine concentrations of a catecholamine (norepinephrine) ranging from...

Recent shift in the pigmentation phenotype of a wild Neotropical primate

The colors of primates are among the most diverse phenotypes in mammals. These colors are mostly produced by the deposition of melanin pigments in hairs. Many species show considerable variability...

Solar and terrestrial radiations explain continental-scale variation in bird pigmentation

Animals living on the earth's surface are protected from the damaging effects of solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation by melanin pigments that color their integument. UV levels that reach the...

Molecular vibration as a novel explanatory mechanism for the expression of animal colouration

Animal colouration is characterized by the concentration of pigments in integumentary structures and by the nanoscale arrangement of constitutive elements. However, the influence of molecular...

Dark pigmentation limits thermal niche position in birds

Animal pigmentation has evolved because of several adaptive functions. In the case of pigmentation produced by melanins, the most common pigments in animals, the main function is protection against...
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