Oxidative Stress and Hormesis in Evolutionary Ecology and Physiology

This book discusses oxidative stress and hormesis from the perspective of an evolutionary ecologist or physiologist. In the first of ten chapters, general historical information, definitions, and background of research on oxidative stress physiology, hormesis, and life history are provided. Chapters 2-10 highlight the different solutions that organisms have evolved to cope with the oxidative threats posed by their environments and lifestyles. The author illustrates how oxidative stress and hormesis have shaped diversity in organism life-histories, behavioral profiles, morphological phenotypes, and aging mechanisms. The book offers fascinating insights into how organisms work and how they evolve to sustain their physiological functions under a vast array of environmental conditions.

Inhalt

Chapter 1: Historical and Contemporary Issues of Oxidative Stress, Hormesis and Life History Evolution

1.1 The Great Oxidation Event: From a Reducing to an Oxidising World

1.2 Reactive Species, Antioxidants and Oxidative Stress

1.2.1 On the Nature of Free Radicals and of Other Reactive Species

1.2.2 Antioxidant Mechanisms

1.2.3 Oxidative Stress

1.2.4 Biochemical Integration and Modularity of Redox Systems

1.3 Hormesis

1.3.1 Historical Scenario: on the Birth, Death and Resurgence of Hormesis

1.3.2 Types of Hormesis

1.3.3 Quantitative Features of Hormesis and Problems with its Detection

1.3.4 Hormesis and Evolutionary Fitness

1.4 Life History Evolution

References

Chapter 2: Early Life Hormesis and Oxidative Experiences Fine-Tune the Adult Phenotype

2.1 Early Environment and Phenotypic Development

2.2 Pre-Natal Maternal Effects: How Mothers Use Hormones to Shape their Offspring

2.2.1 Organisational Effects of Androgens: Examples from Birds

2.2.2 Stress Hormones and the Developmental Programming Hypothesis

2.3 Epigenetic and Transgenerational Hormetic Effects

2.4 Post-Natal Hormetic Priming of Organism to Withstand Stress Later in Life

2.4.1 Plants

2.4.2 Invertebrates

2.4.3 Birds

2.4.4 Mammals

2.5 The Compensatory Growth Paradigm

2.6 Conclusions

References

Chapter 3: Variation in Oxidative Stress Threats and Hormesis Across Environments

3.1 The Struggle of Living in Oxidising Environments

3.2 Coping with Thermal Challenges

3.2.1 Thermal Relations of Organisms with their Environments

3.2.2 The Good and the Bad of Cold and Heat Stress

3.2.3 Thermal Stress and Body Colourations

3.3 Solar Radiation: the Threat Comes from Above

3.4 Partial Pressure of Oxygen

3.4.1 Coping with Drastic Changes in Oxygen Concentration

3.4.2 The Curious Case of Symbiotic Species

3.5 Partial Pressure of Carbon Dioxide

3.6 Coping with Multiple Environmental Stressors

3.7 Environmentally Induced Variation in Redox State Regulation Within and Among Species

3.7.1 Invertebrates

3.7.2 Fish

3.7.3 Birds

3.8 Conclusions

References

Chapter 4: Nutritional Ecology, Foraging Strategies and Food Selection

4.1 The Pervasive Nature of Food in Life

4.2 The Oxidative Costs of Foraging

4.3 Food Selection: Looking for Antioxidant Rewards

4.4 Effects of Diet on Oxidant and Antioxidant Status

4.4.1 Food Quality

4.4.2 Food Restriction

4.5 Antioxidants and Nutrients as Maternal Programming Tools of Offspring Oxidative Balance

4.5.1 Dietary Antioxidants

4.5.2 Nutrients

4.6 On Nutrients, Toxins, Nutritional Hormesis, Essentiality and the Bertrand's Rule

4.7 Conclusions

References

Chapter 5: Coping with Physical Activity and Inactivity

5.1 Redox Biology of Physical Activity

5.2 Physical Effort, Oxidative Stress and Hormesis

5.3 Costs of Migration and Strategies to Mitigate Them

5.3.1 Long-Distance Migrations

5.3.2 Vertical Migration

5.4 Quarrelsome Families: Competition Among Siblings

5.5 Oxidative Stress Risks Through the Transitions From Dormancy to Arousal and Back

5.6 Conclusions

References

Chapter 6: The Costs of Makeup in Sexual Selection and Social Signalling

6.1 Visual Sexual Signalling in Males

6.1.1 Carotenoid-Dependent Secondary Sexual Traits

6.1.2 Melanin-Dependent Secondary Sexual Traits

6.1.3 Testosterone and Ornaments

6.1.4 Achromatic Morphological Sexual Signals

6.2 Visual Sexual Signalling in Females

6.2.1 Body Colourations 6.2.2 Egg Pigmentat...