Maternal exposure to high temperature in fish induces intergenerational emotional and cognitive disorders, associated with dysregulation of neurodevelopment genes in eggs and progeny
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ABSTRACT: Female fish are known to be sensitive to temperature during reproduction, but the long-term consequences on offspring adaptive behaviour and their underlying intergenerational mechanisms remain unknown. We studied the intergenerational consequences of female rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) exposure to high (17°C) or normal temperature (12°C) on offspring behavioural phenotypes. We also analysed genome-wide gene expression in eggs and embryos to elucidate the mechanisms by which thermal maternal exposure impacts offspring behaviour. Here we show that a thermal maternal stress induces emotional and cognitive disorders in offspring. Fear responses to a novel environment were inhibited in 17°C offspring indicating global emotional blunting. Thermal stress in mothers also decreased spatial learning abilities in progeny. Behavioural phenotypes were associated with the dysregulation of several genes known to play major roles in neurodevelopment. This is especially true for auts2, a key gene for neurodevelopment in fish and mammals, more specifically neuronal migration and neurite extension, and critical for the acquisition of neurocognitive function in fish and mammals. In addition to auts2, our analysis revealed the dysregulation of another neurodevelopment gene (dpysl5) as well as genes associated with human cognitive disorders (arv1, plp2). Our study also revealed major differences in maternal mRNA abundance in the eggs following maternal exposure to high temperature indicating that some of the observed intergenerational effects are mediated by maternally-inherited mRNAs accumulated in the egg. Together, our observations shed new light on the intergenerational determinism of fish behaviour and associated underlying mechanisms. They also stress the importance of maternal history on fish adaptive capacities in a context of global climate changes.
ORGANISM(S): Oncorhynchus mykiss
PROVIDER: GSE113377 | GEO | 2018/11/01
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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