Dietary constraints can preclude the expression of an honest chemical sexual signal

Abstract Identifying the factors that underlie signal divergences remains challenging in studies of animal communication. Regarding the chemical signalling, different compounds can be found in some species but be absent in others. We hypothesized that if the costs that are associated with the expres...

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Autores principales:	Roberto García-Roa, Jorge Sáiz, Belén Gómara, Pilar López, José Martín
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2017
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/38e4d46c0bb7472d917bcee4c6038691
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:38e4d46c0bb7472d917bcee4c60386912021-12-02T11:41:11ZDietary constraints can preclude the expression of an honest chemical sexual signal10.1038/s41598-017-06323-82045-2322https://doaj.org/article/38e4d46c0bb7472d917bcee4c60386912017-07-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-06323-8https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Identifying the factors that underlie signal divergences remains challenging in studies of animal communication. Regarding the chemical signalling, different compounds can be found in some species but be absent in others. We hypothesized that if the costs that are associated with the expression of some compounds are too high, their presence in the signal may be restricted. However, these compounds may be expressed and be functional when those costs are relaxed. Vitamin E (α-tocopherol), a dietary compound with metabolic relevancy, acts as an honest chemical sexual signal in many lizards but no in others such as the Carpetan Rock lizard (Iberolacerta cyreni). We investigated whether dietary supplementation favours the expression of this vitamin in scents of I. cyreni. We show that dietary constraints can preclude the expression of vitamin E in chemical secretions of wild males because was expressed when it was experimentally provided in the diet. Vitamin E supplementation also heightened the immune response of males and increased the interest of their scent for females, highlighting the vitamin E as a chemical sexual signal in this species. We suggest that diet could decisively act as a driver of intra- and interspecific divergences in the chemical signalling of lizards.Roberto García-RoaJorge SáizBelén GómaraPilar LópezJosé MartínNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 1-7 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Roberto García-Roa Jorge Sáiz Belén Gómara Pilar López José Martín Dietary constraints can preclude the expression of an honest chemical sexual signal
description	Abstract Identifying the factors that underlie signal divergences remains challenging in studies of animal communication. Regarding the chemical signalling, different compounds can be found in some species but be absent in others. We hypothesized that if the costs that are associated with the expression of some compounds are too high, their presence in the signal may be restricted. However, these compounds may be expressed and be functional when those costs are relaxed. Vitamin E (α-tocopherol), a dietary compound with metabolic relevancy, acts as an honest chemical sexual signal in many lizards but no in others such as the Carpetan Rock lizard (Iberolacerta cyreni). We investigated whether dietary supplementation favours the expression of this vitamin in scents of I. cyreni. We show that dietary constraints can preclude the expression of vitamin E in chemical secretions of wild males because was expressed when it was experimentally provided in the diet. Vitamin E supplementation also heightened the immune response of males and increased the interest of their scent for females, highlighting the vitamin E as a chemical sexual signal in this species. We suggest that diet could decisively act as a driver of intra- and interspecific divergences in the chemical signalling of lizards.
format	article
author	Roberto García-Roa Jorge Sáiz Belén Gómara Pilar López José Martín
author_facet	Roberto García-Roa Jorge Sáiz Belén Gómara Pilar López José Martín
author_sort	Roberto García-Roa
title	Dietary constraints can preclude the expression of an honest chemical sexual signal
title_short	Dietary constraints can preclude the expression of an honest chemical sexual signal
title_full	Dietary constraints can preclude the expression of an honest chemical sexual signal
title_fullStr	Dietary constraints can preclude the expression of an honest chemical sexual signal
title_full_unstemmed	Dietary constraints can preclude the expression of an honest chemical sexual signal
title_sort	dietary constraints can preclude the expression of an honest chemical sexual signal
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/38e4d46c0bb7472d917bcee4c6038691
work_keys_str_mv	AT robertogarciaroa dietaryconstraintscanprecludetheexpressionofanhonestchemicalsexualsignal AT jorgesaiz dietaryconstraintscanprecludetheexpressionofanhonestchemicalsexualsignal AT belengomara dietaryconstraintscanprecludetheexpressionofanhonestchemicalsexualsignal AT pilarlopez dietaryconstraintscanprecludetheexpressionofanhonestchemicalsexualsignal AT josemartin dietaryconstraintscanprecludetheexpressionofanhonestchemicalsexualsignal
_version_	1718395455200559104

Dietary constraints can preclude the expression of an honest chemical sexual signal

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