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Experimental food restriction reveals individual differences in corticosterone reaction norms with no oxidative costs.

ABSTRACT: Highly plastic endocrine traits are thought to play a central role in allowing organisms to respond rapidly to environmental change. Yet, not all individuals display the same degree of plasticity in these traits, and the costs of this individual variation in plasticity are unknown. We studied individual differences in corticosterone levels under varying conditions to test whether there are consistent individual differences in (1) baseline corticosterone levels; (2) plasticity in the hormonal response to an ecologically relevant stressor (food restriction); and (3) whether individual differences in plasticity are related to fitness costs, as estimated by oxidative stress levels. We took 25 wild-caught house sparrows into captivity and assigned them to repeated food restricted and control treatments (60% and 110% of their daily food intake), such that each individual experienced both food restricted and control diets twice. We found significant individual variation in baseline corticosterone levels and stress responsiveness, even after controlling for changes in body mass. However, these individual differences in hormonal responsiveness were not related to measures of oxidative stress. These results have implications for how corticosterone levels may evolve in natural populations and raise questions about what we can conclude from phenotypic correlations between hormone levels and fitness measures.

SUBMITTER: Lendvai AZ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4227652 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Experimental food restriction reveals individual differences in corticosterone reaction norms with no oxidative costs.

Lendvai Adám Z AZ Ouyang Jenny Q JQ Schoenle Laura A LA Fasanello Vincent V Haussmann Mark F MF Bonier Frances F Moore Ignacio T IT

PloS one 20141111 11

Highly plastic endocrine traits are thought to play a central role in allowing organisms to respond rapidly to environmental change. Yet, not all individuals display the same degree of plasticity in these traits, and the costs of this individual variation in plasticity are unknown. We studied individual differences in corticosterone levels under varying conditions to test whether there are consistent individual differences in (1) baseline corticosterone levels; (2) plasticity in the hormonal res ...[more]

PMID: 25386675

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Project description:Local adaptation and its underlying molecular basis has long been a key focus in evolutionary biology. There has recently been increased interest in the evolutionary role of plasticity and the molecular mechanisms underlying local adaptation. Using transcriptome analysis, we assessed differences in gene expression profiles for three brown trout (Salmo trutta) populations, one resident and two anadromous, experiencing different temperature regimes in the wild. The study was based on an F2 generation raised in a common garden setting. A previous study of the F1 generation revealed different reaction norms and significantly higher QST than FST among populations for two early life-history traits. In the present study we investigated if similar reaction norm patterns were present at the transcriptome level. Eggs from the three populations were incubated at two temperatures (5 and 8 degrees C) representing conditions encountered in the local environments. Global gene expression for fry at the stage of first feeding was analysed using a 32k cDNA microarray. The results revealed differences in gene expression between populations and temperatures and population M-CM-^W temperature interactions, the latter indicating locally adapted reaction norms. Moreover, the reaction norms paralleled those observed previously at early life-history traits. We were able to identify 90 cDNA clones among the genes with an interaction effect that were differently expressed between the ecologically divergent populations. These included genes involved in immune- and stress response. We observed less plasticity in the resident as compared to the anadromous populations, possibly reflecting that the degree of environmental heterogeneity encountered by individuals throughout their life cycle will select for variable level of phenotypic plasticity at the transcriptome level. Our study demonstrates the usefulness of transcriptome approaches to identify genes with different temperature reaction norms. The responses observed suggest that populations may vary in their susceptibility to climate change. Brown trout populations from three rivers in Denmark were studied: the Karup (KAR), Norring Moellebaek (NOR) and Lilleaa Rivers (LIL). These rivers experience different temperature regimes during the period lasting from egg incubation until fry emergence. During the autumn of 2004 and the winter of 2004/2005, adults from the three populations were collected by electro fishing. The fish were stripped for milt and eggs to establish an F1 generation. In autumn/winter 2008/2009, mature F1s were used to establish F2 offspring for each of the three populations. For KAR and LIL, 20 full-sib families were established, whereas for NOR, 15 full-sib families were established. Eggs from each full sib family were divided into two pools that were incubated at 5 and 8M-BM-!C in separate hatching troughs. At the time of first feeding (ca. 750-780 day-degrees), 10 individuals from each family and temperature were collected and transferred to separate tubes containing RNAlater (QIAGEN, Hilden, Germany). A 32K cDNA microarray developed for salmonids by cGRASP was used for the analyses. Ten families were randomly selected from each population. From each family two individuals were analyzed for each temperature (5 and 8oC, respectively), amounting to a total of 120 individuals. Of the two individuals from each temperature treatment within a family, one was labeled with CY5 and the other with CY3. For each family there were two comparisons of individuals representing different temperatures, but with dyes swapped between comparisons.

Dataset Information

Experimental food restriction reveals individual differences in corticosterone reaction norms with no oxidative costs.

Publications

Experimental food restriction reveals individual differences in corticosterone reaction norms with no oxidative costs.

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