Microbiome constitutes an important axis of individual variation that, together with genes and the environment, influences individual's physiology fitness. Microbiomes are dependent not only on body condition but also external factors, such as diet or stress levels, can be involved into feedbacks between ecological factors internal physiology. In our study, we used a wild population blue tits C...

The development of molecular genetic screening techniques for avian blood parasites has revealed many novel aspects of their ecology, including greatly elevated diversity and complex host-parasite relationships. Many previous studies of malaria in birds have treated single study populations as spatially homogeneous with respect to the likelihood of transmission of malaria to hosts, and we have ...

This is the first crystal structure of a carbohydrate induced dimer of phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)). This is an endogenous complex formed between two PLA(2) molecules and two mannoses. It was isolated from Krait venom (Bungarus caeruleus) and crystallized as such. The complete amino acid sequence of PLA(2) was determined using cDNA method. Three-dimensional structure of the complex has been solv...

It is regularly reported that avian reproductive outputs are reduced in urban areas, yet the underlying reasons for discrepancies between and natural habitats to date poorly explained. To address this knowledge gap, we tested whether of wild great tit (Parus major) blue (Cyanistes caeruleus) populations Warsaw (Poland) correlated with concentrations six main metallic/metalloid trace elements (M...