Dataset Information

Environment-induced changes in reproductive strategies and their transgenerational effects in the three-spined stickleback.

ABSTRACT: An organism may increase its fitness by changing its reproductive strategies in response to environmental cues, but the possible consequences of those changes for the next generation have rarely been explored. By using an experiment on the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), we studied how changes in the onset of breeding photoperiod (early versus late) affect reproductive strategies of males and females, and life histories of their offspring. We also explored whether telomeres are involved in the within- and transgenerational effects. In response to the late onset of breeding photoperiod, females reduced their investment in the early clutches, but males increased their investment in sexual signals. Costs of increased reproductive investment in terms of telomere loss were evident only in the late females. The environmentally induced changes in reproductive strategies affected offspring growth and survival. Most notably, offspring growth rate was the fastest when both parents experienced a delayed (i.e., late) breeding photoperiod, and survival rate was the highest when both parents experienced an advanced (i.e., early) breeding photoperiod. There was no evidence of transgenerational effects on offspring telomere length despite positive parents-offspring relationships in this trait. Our results highlight that environmental changes may impact more than one generation by altering reproductive strategies of seasonal breeders with consequences for offspring viability.

SUBMITTER: Alvarez-Quintero N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7820166 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Environment-induced changes in reproductive strategies and their transgenerational effects in the three-spined stickleback.

Álvarez-Quintero Náyade N Velando Alberto A Noguera Jose C JC Kim Sin-Yeon SY

Ecology and evolution 20201209 2

An organism may increase its fitness by changing its reproductive strategies in response to environmental cues, but the possible consequences of those changes for the next generation have rarely been explored. By using an experiment on the three-spined stickleback (<i>Gasterosteus aculeatus</i>), we studied how changes in the onset of breeding photoperiod (early versus late) affect reproductive strategies of males and females, and life histories of their offspring. We also explored whether telom ...[more]

PMID: 33520165

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundConditions experienced by a female during early life may affect her reproductive strategies and maternal investment later in life. This effect of early environmental conditions is a potentially important mechanism by which animals can compensate for the negative impacts of climate change. In this study, we experimentally tested whether three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) change their maternal strategy according to environmental temperatures experienced earlier in life. We studied maternal investment from a life-history perspective because females are expected to adjust their reproductive strategy in relation to their current and future reproductive returns as well as offspring fitness.ResultsF1 families were reared in control and elevated winter temperatures and their reproductive trajectories were studied when returned to common conditions. Females that had experienced the warm winter treatment (n = 141) had a lower fecundity and reduced breeding and total lifespan compared to the control individuals (n = 159). Whereas the control females tended to produce their heaviest and largest clutches in their first reproductive attempt, the warm-acclimated females invested less in their first clutch, but then produced increasingly heavy clutches over the course of the breeding season. Egg mass increased with clutch number at a similar rate in the two groups. The warm-acclimated females increased the investment of carotenoids in the first and last clutches of the season. Thus, any transgenerational effects of the maternal thermal environment on offspring phenotype may be mediated by the allocation of antioxidants into eggs but not by egg size.ConclusionsOur results indicate that conditions experienced by females during juvenile life have a profound effect on life-time maternal reproductive strategies. The temperature-induced changes in maternal strategy may be due to constraints imposed by the higher energetic costs of a warm environment, but it is possible that they allow the offspring to compensate for higher energetic costs and damage when they face the same thermal stress as did their mothers.

Dataset Information

Environment-induced changes in reproductive strategies and their transgenerational effects in the three-spined stickleback.

Publications

Environment-induced changes in reproductive strategies and their transgenerational effects in the three-spined stickleback.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets