Desert birds must cope with occasional and unpredictable heat waves, which are slowly becoming more frequent with climate change. Different orders of birds have different physiological and behavioural capacities that may aid survival during a heat wave. To date, the expression of genes related to heat exposure have not been studied across different bird orders. We hypothesised that acutely exposing native Australian birds whose natural habitat include arid environments to a high temperature (45 °C), similar to during a heat wave, would result in the upregulation of genes with protective effects against cell damage (BCL-2, VEGFA and heat shock proteins) and inflammation (interleukins), as well as the downregulation of genes involved in the coagulation pathway (fibrinogen). We used eight each of captive-bred Budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus), Zebra Finches (Taeniopygia guttata) and Diamond Doves (Geopelia cuneata). Four birds of each species were exposed to a temperature that was within the zone of thermal neutrality (35 °C), while the other four birds were exposed to a higher temperature (45 °C). The mRNA expression of selected genes were then measured using high-throughput qPCR platform (Fluidigm®, BioMark™). The results supported the hypothesis that acute exposure to a high temperature would result in the upregulation of heat shock protein (HSP) genes, but there was no significant upregulation of other genes with protective effects against cell damage nor genes associated with inflammation. The results also do not support the hypothesis that acute heat exposure would result in downregulation of the genes involved in the coagulation pathway in these birds. Among all the tissues that were analysed, the gastrointestinal tissue had the highest number of upregulated HSP genes, possibly indicating that this tissue requires the most protection to continue functioning. Diamond Dove organs also had the highest number of HSP genes upregulated, possibly a reflection of their ability to better protect their cells at high temperatures.

中文翻译：

---

三种澳大利亚沙漠鸟类在急性热暴露后热休克蛋白表达上调

沙漠鸟类必须应对偶尔和不可预测的热浪，随着气候变化，热浪正逐渐变得更加频繁。不同命令的鸟类具有不同的生理和行为能力，可能有助于在热浪中生存。迄今为止，尚未在不同鸟类目中研究与热暴露相关的基因表达。我们假设，将自然栖息地包括干旱环境的澳大利亚本土鸟类急剧暴露于高温 (45 °C)，类似于热浪期间，将导致对细胞损伤具有保护作用的基因 (BCL-2、VEGFA) 上调和热休克蛋白）和炎症（白细胞介素），以及参与凝血途径的基因（纤维蛋白原）的下调。我们用了八只圈养的虎皮鹦鹉（Melopsittacus undulatus），斑胸草雀 (Taeniopygia guttata) 和钻石鸽 (Geopelia cuneata)。每个物种的四只鸟暴露在热中性区（35°C）内的温度下，而其他四只鸟暴露在更高的温度（45°C）中。然后使用高通量 qPCR 平台 (Fluidigm®, BioMark™) 测量所选基因的 mRNA 表达。结果支持了这样的假设，即急性暴露于高温会导致热休克蛋白 (HSP) 基因上调，但其他对细胞损伤具有保护作用的基因或与炎症相关的基因没有显着上调。结果也不支持急性热暴露会导致这些鸟类凝血途径中涉及的基因下调的假设。在所有被分析的组织中，胃肠组织的 HSP 基因上调数量最多，这可能表明该组织需要最大的保护才能继续发挥作用。Diamond Dove 器官上调的 HSP 基因数量也最多，这可能反映了它们在高温下更好地保护细胞的能力。