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The Vitamin A-Redox Hypothesis: A Biochemical Basis for Honest Signaling via Carotenoid Pigmentation


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dc.contributorGeoffrey Hill, ghill@auburn.eduen_US
dc.creatorHill, Geoffrey
dc.creatorJohnson, James D
dc.date.accessioned2022-07-29T13:38:05Z
dc.date.available2022-07-29T13:38:05Z
dc.date.created2012
dc.identifier10.1086/667861en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/667861en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://aurora.auburn.edu/handle/11200/50317
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.35099/aurora-385
dc.description.abstractTrade-offs in resource allocation have been widely stated as the means by which the honesty of ornamental traits is maintained, but an alternative to this resource trade-off hypothesis is that production of ornamentation is linked to the biochemical efficiency of vital cellular processes. Carotenoids are antioxidants, potentially tying carotenoid-based coloration to the oxidative state of an organism, and some carotenoids are also precursors for vitamin A, which regulates numerous cellular processes. We present a biochemical model for regulation of ornamental coloration based on interdependencies of carotenoid and retinoid biochemistry. We propose that vitamin A regulatory mechanisms, redox systems, and carotenoid pigmentation pathways link carotenoid coloration to oxidative state and to a host of important aspects of performance, such as immune function. The activity of beta-carotene ketolase, which catalyzes the oxidation of yellow carotenoids into red carotenoids, is responsive to the states of vitamin A pools and redox systems such that coloration is a direct reflection of the physiological state of an animal. According to the vitamin A-redox hypothesis, feather coloration is associated with a range of performance measures because performance emerges from functionality of the same basic cellular processes that regulate pigmentation. We present the vitamin A-redox hypothesis as a testable alternative hypothesis to the resource trade-off hypothesis for the maintenance of honesty of carotenoid pigmentation.en_US
dc.formatPDFen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Chicago Pressen_US
dc.relation.ispartofAMERICAN NATURALISTen_US
dc.relation.ispartofseries0003-0147en_US
dc.rights©The Authors 2012. ©University of Chicago Press 2012. This is this the version of record published by the University of Chicago Press. It is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. Item should be cited as: Hill, Geoffrey E., and James D. Johnson. "The vitamin A–redox hypothesis: a biochemical basis for honest signaling via carotenoid pigmentation." The American Naturalist 180, no. 5 (2012): E127-E150.en_US
dc.subjectsexual selectionen_US
dc.subjectcondition-dependent traiten_US
dc.subjectoxidative stateen_US
dc.subjectplumage colorationen_US
dc.subject, b-carotene ketolaseen_US
dc.subject4-keto-carotenoiden_US
dc.subjectcardueline finchen_US
dc.titleThe Vitamin A-Redox Hypothesis: A Biochemical Basis for Honest Signaling via Carotenoid Pigmentationen_US
dc.typeTexten_US
dc.type.genreJournal Article, Academic Journalen_US
dc.citation.volume180en_US
dc.citation.issue5en_US
dc.citation.spageE127en_US
dc.citation.epageE150en_US
dc.description.statusPublisheden_US
dc.description.peerreviewYesen_US
dc.creator.orcid0000-0001-8864-6495en_US

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