Carotenoid pigments are commonly used as colorants of feathers and bare parts by birds. However, parrots (Aves: Psittaciformes) use a novel class of plumage pigments (called psittacofulvins) that, like carotenoids, are lipid-soluble and red, orange, or yellow in color. To begin to understand how and why parrots use these pigments and not carotenoids in their feathers, we must first describe the...

Feathers are complex integumentary appendages of birds and some other theropod dinosaurs. They are frequently coloured and function in camouflage and display. Previous investigations have concluded that fossil feathers are preserved as carbonized traces composed of feather-degrading bacteria. Here, an investigation of a colour-banded feather from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil r...

Meiothermus ruber H328 was isolated from Arima Hot Springs, Kobe, Japan, as a moderate thermophile. It has a strong ability to degrade intact chicken feathers. The enzymatic mechanism of the strain for feather degradation is unclear. The draft genome suggests potent enzyme candidates for degradation of keratin, a hard-to-degrade protein found in feathers.

The bioaccumulation and toxicity of per- polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have raised scientific public concern in recent decades, leading to regulatory measures for some PFAS (e.g. perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)). In addition, the discovery new alternatives environment has led growing about presence numerous other that are used unrestricted. Feathers been succe...

Many animal displays involve colorful ornamental traits that signal an individual's quality as a mate or rival. Brilliant iridescent ornaments are common, but little is currently known about their production cost and signaling value. One potential cost of colorful ornaments is the acquisition of limited dietary resources that may be involved, directly or indirectly, in their production. Protein...

Population connectivity is an important consideration in studies of disease transmission and biological conservation, especially with regard to migratory species. Determining how and when different subpopulations intermingle during different phases of the annual cycle can help identify important geographical regions or features as targets for conservation efforts and can help inform our underst...

Bacillus subtilis strain S1-4, with the capacity to efficiently degrade feathers, was isolated from chicken feathers. Sequencing showed that the genome of strain S1-4 differs from that of other B. subtilis strains, with limited insertions and deletions. The genome encodes multiple extracellular proteases and keratinases.

conclusions: the obtained results prove that keratinolytic potential of both tested bacterial strains could be applied mainly in biodegradation of feathers, however, b. cereus and b. polymyxa differed in terms of keratinase and protease production on each of the substrates. biodegradation of highly resilient structures like hair or pig bristle requires further analysis of process conditions. re...

Nudds and Dyke (Reports, 14 May 2010, p. 887) compared the rachis diameters of the primary feathers of Archaeopteryx and Confuciusornis to those of modern birds and found that the primary feathers of these two basal birds were too weak to support sustained flight. Our measurements of Confuciusornis specimens suggest that their conclusions need to be further evaluated.