Thyroid hormones and antibody response to sheep erythrocytes of dwarf and normal chickens selected for juvenile body weight

International audienc

Heritable variation in maternally derived yolk androgens, thyroid hormones and immune factors

Maternal reproductive investment can critically influence offspring phenotype, and thus these maternal effects are expected to be under strong natural selection. Knowledge on the extent of heritable variation in the physiological mechanisms underlying maternal effects is however limited. In birds, resource allocation to eggs is a key mechanism for mothers to affect their offspring and different components of the egg may or may not be independently adjusted. We studied the heritability of egg components and their genetic and phenotypic covariation in great tits (Parus major), using captive-bred full siblings of wild origin. Egg mass, testosterone (T) and androstenedione (A4) hormone concentrations showed moderate heritability, in agreement with earlier findings. Interestingly, yolk triiodothyronine hormone (T3), but not its precursor, thyroxine hormone (T4), concentration was heritable. An immune factor, albumen lysozyme, showed moderate heritability, but yolk immunoglobulins (IgY) did not. The genetic correlation estimates were moderate but statistically nonsignificant; a trend for a positive genetic correlation was found between A4 and egg mass, T and lysozyme and IgY and lysozyme, respectively. Interestingly, phenotypic correlations were found only between A4 and T, and T4 and T3, respectively. Given that these egg components are associated with fitness-related traits in the offspring (and mother), and that we show that some components are heritable, it opens the possibility that natural selection may shape the rate and direction of phenotypic change via egg composition

Interfollicular fibrosis in the thyroid of the harbour porpoise: An endocrine disruption?

Previous studies have described high levels of polychlorobiphenyls (PCB), polybrominated diphenylether (PBDE), toxaphene, ,p0-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), and ,p0-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) in the blubber of the harbour porpoise from the North Sea raising the question of a potential endocrine disruption in this species. In the present study, the thyroids of 57 harbour porpoises from the German and Danish (North and Baltic Seas), Norwegian, and Icelandic coasts have been collected for histological and immunohistological investigations. The number of follicles and the relative distribution of follicles, connective, and solid tissues (%) were quantified in the thyroid of each individual. Then, the potential relationship between the thyroid morphometry data and previously described organic compounds (namely, PCB, PBDE, toxaphene, DDT, and DDE) was investigated using factor analysis and multiple regressions. Thyroid morphology differed strongly between ampling sites. Porpoises from the German (North and Baltic Seas) and Norwegian coasts displayed a high percentage of connective tissues between 30 and 38% revealing severe interfollicular fibrosis and a high number of large follicles (diameter >200 lm). A correlation-based principal component analysis (PCA) revealed two principal components explaining 85.9% of the total variance. The variables PCB, PBDE, DDT, and DDE compounds loaded highest on PC1 whereas toxaphene compound loaded most on PC2. Our results pointed out a relationship between PC1 (PCBs, PBDE, DDE, and DDT compounds) and interfollicular fibrosis in the harbour porpoise thyroids. Such an association is not alone sufficient for a cause–effect relationship but supports the hypothesis of a contaminant-induced thyroid fibrosis in harbour porpoises raising the question of the longterm viability in highly polluted areas