Data from: Mitochondrial function is enhanced by thyroid hormones during zebra finch development
Data files
Abstract
An organism’s response to its environment is largely determined by changes in the energy supplied by aerobic mitochondrial metabolism via adenosine-tri-phosphate (ATP) production. ATP is especially important under energy-demanding conditions, such as during rapid growth. It is currently poorly understood how environmental factors influence energy metabolism and mitochondrial functioning, but recent studies suggest a role of thyroid hormones (TH). TH are key regulators of growth and metabolism, and can be flexibly adjusted to environmental conditions, such as environmental temperature or food availability. To test whether TH enhancement is causally linked to mitochondrial function and growth, we provided TH orally at physiological concentrations during the main growth phase in zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) nestlings reared in a challenging environment. TH-treatment accelerated maximal mitochondrial working capacity – a trait that reflects mitochondrial ATP production, without affecting growth. To our knowledge, this is the first study to characterize the regulation of mitochondria by TH during development in a semi-naturalistic context and to address implications for fitness related traits, such as growth.
README: Mitochondrial function is enhanced by thyroid hormones during zebra finch development - Dataset and RCode
This data set contains morphological, hormonal (T3 plasma values) and mitochondrial respirometry data from zebra finch hatchlings. "TH-chicks" received a hormonal treatment with triiodothyronine (T3) during the main growth phase and "control" chicks the treatment vector to test the effect of T3 on mitochondrial function and growth.
Description of the data and file structure
File "Data"
Column name Description
Group Treatment group, "TH-chicks" received a thyroid hormone treatment, "Control" received the treatment vector
TH-validation Individuals marked as "TH-validation" are only used to validate the treatment 1 hour after administratioin
Sample ID Individual sample ID
T3 Plasma levels T3 plasma levels in pmol ml1
Foster nest Number of nest of rearing
Nest of origin Number of nest of birth
Routine Cellular metabolic rate "CMR" in pmol s1 mg1
OxPhos Oxidative phosphorylation in pmol s1 mg1
Leak Leak respiration in pmol s1 mg1
ETS Maximal electron chain capacity in pmol s1 mg1
FCR1 Ratio between leak and CMR
Sampling date Continuous numeration of the order of birth of individuals, using dummy variables that start with 1 as the first hatching date
Tarsus D 5 Tarsus length at day 5 in mm
Body Mass D 5 Body mass at day 5 in mg
Tarsus D 14 Tarsus length at day 14 in mm
Body Mass D 14 Body mass at day 14 in mg
SMI D 14 Scaled mass index (Peig & Green 2009) at day 14
SMI D 5 Scaled mass index (Peig & Green 2009) at day 5
#File "data_growth_rate"
Column name Description
Group Treatment group, "TH-chicks" received a thyroid hormone treatment, "Control" received the treatment vector
TH-validation Individuals marked as "TH-validation" are only used to validate the treatment 1 hour after administratioin
Sample ID Individual sample ID
Foster nest Number of nest of rearing
Nest of origin Number of nest of birth
Age. Age in days post hatch
Tarsus Tarsus length in mm
Body Mass Body mass in mg
SMI Scaled mass index (Peig & Green 2009)
N/A = missing data
Code/Software
All statistical analysis was done in R, version 4.2.2. We used generalized linear models via the stan function from the package rstanarm and the package "ggplot" for visualization.