Flight & Brains, Feathers & Hair
Adaptation to flight has a big impact on antioxidant defenses; recently this paper came up in my feed (thank Google): Adaptation of the master antioxidant response connects metabolism, lifespan and feather development pathways in birds [2020] - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16129-4 “ Birds (Aves) display high metabolic rates and oxygen consumption relative to mammals, increasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation. Although excess ROS reduces lifespan by causing extensive cellular dysfunction and damage, birds are remarkably long-lived. We address this paradox by identifying the constitutive activation of the NRF2 master antioxidant response in Neoaves (~95% of bird species), providing an adaptive mechanism capable of counterbalancing high ROS levels. We demonstrate that a KEAP1 mutation in the Neoavian ancestor disrupted the repression of NRF2 by KEAP1, leading to constitutive NRF2 activity and decreased oxidative stress in wild Neoaves tissues and cells. O