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.

Combines mechanistic and evolutionary approaches

Provides insights into how and why biological diversity has evolved

Richly illustrated

Inhalt
Chapter 1: Historical and Contemporary Issues of Oxidative Stress, Hormesis and Life History Evolution1.1 The Great Oxidation Event: From a Reducing to an Oxidising World1.2 Reactive Species, Antioxidants and Oxidative Stress1.2.1 On the Nature of Free Radicals and of Other Reactive Species1.2.2 Antioxidant Mechanisms1.2.3 Oxidative Stress1.2.4 Biochemical Integration and Modularity of Redox Systems1.3 Hormesis1.3.1 Historical Scenario: on the Birth, Death and Resurgence of Hormesis1.3.2 Types of Hormesis1.3.3 Quantitative Features of Hormesis and Problems with its Detection1.3.4 Hormesis and Evolutionary Fitness1.4 Life History EvolutionReferences Chapter 2: Early Life Hormesis and Oxidative Experiences Fine-Tune the Adult Phenotype2.1 Early Environment and Phenotypic Development2.2 Pre-Natal Maternal Effects: How Mothers Use Hormones to Shape their Offspring2.2.1 Organisational Effects of Androgens: Examples from Birds2.2.2 Stress Hormones and the Developmental Programming Hypothesis 2.3 Epigenetic and Transgenerational Hormetic Effects2.4 Post-Natal Hormetic Priming of Organism to Withstand Stress Later in Life2.4.1 Plants2.4.2 Invertebrates2.4.3 Birds2.4.4 Mammals2.5 The Compensatory Growth Paradigm2.6 ConclusionsReferences Chapter 3: Variation in Oxidative Stress Threats and Hormesis Across Environments3.1 The Struggle of Living in Oxidising Environments3.2 Coping with Thermal Challenges3.2.1 Thermal Relations of Organisms with their Environments3.2.2 The Good and the Bad of Cold and Heat Stress3.2.3 Thermal Stress and Body Colourations3.3 Solar Radiation: the Threat Comes from Above3.4 Partial Pressure of Oxygen3.4.1 Coping with Drastic Changes in Oxygen Concentration3.4.2 The Curious Case of Symbiotic Species3.5 Partial Pressure of Carbon Dioxide3.6 Coping with Multiple Environmental Stressors3.7 Environmentally Induced Variation in Redox State Regulation Within and Among Species3.7.1 Invertebrates3.7.2 Fish3.7.3 Birds3.8 ConclusionsReferences Chapter 4: Nutritional Ecology, Foraging Strategies and Food Selection 4.1 The Pervasive Nature of Food in Life4.2 The Oxidative Costs of Foraging4.3 Food Selection: Looking for Antioxidant Rewards4.4 Effects of Diet on Oxidant and Antioxidant Status4.4.1 Food Quality4.4.2 Food Restriction4.5 Antioxidants and Nutrients as Maternal Programming Tools of Offspring Oxidative Balance4.5.1 Dietary Antioxidants4.5.2 Nutrients4.6 On Nutrients, Toxins, Nutritional Hormesis, Essentiality and the Bertrand's Rule4.7 ConclusionsReferences Chapter 5: Coping with Physical Activity and Inactivity 5.1 Redox Biology of Physical Activity5.2 Physical Effort, Oxidative Stress and Hormesis5.3 Costs of Migration and Strategies to Mitigate Them5.3.1 Long-Distance Migrations5.3.2 Vertical Migration5.4 Quarrelsome Families: Competition Among Siblings5.5 Oxidative Stress Risks Through the Transitions From Dormancy to Arousal and Back 5.6 ConclusionsReferences Chapter 6: The Costs of Makeup in Sexual Selection and Social Signalling6.1 Visual Sexual Signalling in Males6.1.1 Carotenoid-Dependent Secondary Sexual Traits6.1.2 Melanin-Dependent Secondary Sexual Traits6.1.3 Testosterone and Ornaments 6.1.4 Achromatic Morphological Sexual Signals6.2 Visual Sexual Signalling in Females6.2.1 Body Colourations6.2.2 Egg Pigmentation and the Extended Phenotype6.3 Beyond Sex: Signalling in Social Contexts6.3.1 Signalling in Females6.3.2 Signalling in Young6.4 Warning Signals6.5 ConclusionsReferences Chapter 7: The Role of Oxidative Stress and Hormesis in Shaping Reproductive Strategies from Mating Systems to Parental Care7.1 Reproduction is a Time of Tradeoffs7.2 Mating Systems, Reproductive Tactics and Social Stress7.2.1 Courtship Displays7.2.2 The Waiting Male and The Fighting Female7.2.3 Cooperative Breeding7.2.4 Hierarchical Societies7.2.5 Two Sexes, but Many Morphs7.2.6 Polyandry and Sperm Competition7.2.7 Socially Monogamous, but Genetically Polygamous7.3 Male Fertility7.4 Egg Production7.5 Colostrum and Milk Production7.6 Offspring Rearing Effort7.7 Hormesis and Reproduction7.8 ConclusionsReferences Chapter 8: Combating Parasites: Immune Response and Inflammation8.1 Ecoimmunology and the Arms Race8.2 Oxidative Stress and Immune Response8.2.1 Immune Cells as Generators of Reactive Species8.2.2 Immune Response and Oxidative Stress In Vivo8.2.3 Inflammation from the Parasite's Viewpoint8.3 Environmental Stress, Viruses Outbreaks and Oxidative Stress8.4 Hormesis and Immunology8.5 Glucocorticoids and Inflammation8.6 ConclusionsReferences Chapter 9: Variation Within and Among Species in Resistance to Oxidative Stress and Hormetic Responses9.1 The Essence of Biology: Variation 9.2 Early Life Experiences9.3 Styles of Coping with Stressful Situations9.4 Population Differentiation in Oxidative Stress Physiology9.5 Oxidative Profiles in Specific Ecological Circumstances9.5.1 Predation Risk9.5.2 Habitat Quality9.5.3 Daily and Seasonal Variation9.6 Environmental, Maternal and Genetic Contributions to Oxidative Balance9.7 Among Species Variation in Oxidative Damage and Antioxidant Defences9.8 Among Species Variation in Hormetic Responses9.9 Is Hormesis a Target of Natural Selection?9.10 ConclusionsReferences Chapter 10: Integrating Oxidative Stress and Hormesis into Research on Senescence and Survival Perspectives10.1 The Secret Nature of Longevity10.2 Mechanistic Hypotheses of Ageing10.2.1 From the Rate of Living to the Oxidative Stress Hypothesis of Ageing10.2.2 The Homeoviscous-Longevity Adaptation and the Membrane-Pacemaker Hypotheses of Ageing10.2.3 The Uncoupling to Survive Hypothesis of Ageing10.2.4 The Cell Senescence-Telomere Hypothesis of Ageing10.2.5 The Redox Stress Hypothesis of Ageing 10.3 Evolutionary Hypotheses of Ageing: Antagonistic Pleiotropy and Disposable Soma10.4 Antioxidant Mechanisms and Longevity in a Comparative Framework10.4.1 Correlative Evidence10.4.2 In Vitro Evidence10.5 Does Oxidative Stress Level Predict Survival in Wild Animals?10.6 Hormesis Promotes Longevity10.7 Sex Differences in Lifespan, Ageing and Hormesis10.8 Univariate and Multivariate Systems in the Study of Ageing10.9 ConclusionsReferences Index