Hormone and Metabolite Profiles in Nesting Green and Flatback Turtles: Turtle Species with Different Life Histories


Autoria(s): Ikonomopoulou, Maria P.; Bradley, Adrian J.; Ibrahim, Kammarudin; Limpus, Colin J.; Fernandez-Rojo, Manuel A.; Vagenas, Dimitrios; Whittier, Joan M.
Data(s)

2014

Resumo

Herbivorous turtle, Chelonia mydas, inhabiting the south China Sea and breeding in Peninsular Malaysia, and Natator depressus, a carnivorous turtle inhabiting the Great Barrier Reef and breeding at Curtis Island in Queensland, Australia, differ both in diet and life history. Analysis of plasma metabolites levels and six sex steroid hormones during the peak of their nesting season in both species showed hormonal and metabolite variations. When compared with results from other studies progesterone levels were the highest whereas dihydrotestosterone was the plasma steroid hormone present at the lowest concentration in both C. mydas and N. depressus plasma. Interestingly, oestrone was observed at relatively high concentrations in comparison to oestradiol levels recorded in previous studies suggesting that it plays a significant role in nesting turtles. Also, hormonal correlations between the studied species indicate unique physiological interactions during nesting. Pearson correlation analysis showed that in N. depressus the time of oviposition was associated with elevations in both plasma corticosterone and oestrone levels. Therefore, we conclude that corticosterone and oestrone may influence nesting behaviour and physiology in N. depressus. To summarise, these two nesting turtle species can be distinguished based on the hormonal profile of oestrone, progesterone, and testosterone using discriminant analysis.

Formato

application/pdf

Identificador

http://eprints.qut.edu.au/79703/

Publicador

Hindawi Publishing

Relação

http://eprints.qut.edu.au/79703/1/79703.pdf

DOI:10.1155/2014/503209

Ikonomopoulou, Maria P., Bradley, Adrian J., Ibrahim, Kammarudin, Limpus, Colin J., Fernandez-Rojo, Manuel A., Vagenas, Dimitrios, & Whittier, Joan M. (2014) Hormone and Metabolite Profiles in Nesting Green and Flatback Turtles: Turtle Species with Different Life Histories. Advances in Zoology, 2014, pp. 1-9.

Direitos

The authors

Creative Commons Attribution Licence

Fonte

Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation

Tipo

Journal Article