Meeting Abstract

89.6  Monday, Jan. 6 14:45  Different Lab Environments Are Not the Same Animal: Aspects of Zebra Finch Stress Physiology Depend on Captive Housing Environment CALISI, RM*; DICKENS, MJ; ERNST, DK; BENTLEY, GE; Univ, of California, Berkeley; Univ, of California, Berkeley; Univ, of California, Berkeley; Univ, of California, Berkeley beccacalisi@gmail.com

John Wingfield revolutionized the field of Environmental and Stress Endocrinology by showing that changes in an animal’s natural environment (seasonal, social, stress) can and do affect endocrine physiology in profound ways. As certain fields of science become increasingly laboratory model focused, it is important to remember that differences in captive environment can also yield differences in endocrine physiology. Here, we review such instances and report new data that support this notion. Using a model organism, the zebra finch, we show that environment still matters within the captive, laboratory setting. We paired adult males and females in standard laboratory breeding cages and compared aspects of their stress physiology to those housed in large, social, free-flight aviaries. Specifically, we examined differences in circulating plasma corticosterone as well as brain expression of corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) and gonadotropin inhibitory hormone (GnIH) in response to restraint stress. Data reveal that not all lab environments are equal, and careful interpretation and discussion of discordant data are important to truly understand cause and effect. By understanding such variation, we increase our understanding of the relationship between organism and environment in general.