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Liu G, Cain K, Schwanz L. Maternal Temperature, Corticosterone, and Body Condition as Mediators of Maternal Effects in Jacky Dragons ( Amphibolurus muricatus). Physiol Biochem Zool 2021; 93:434-449. [PMID: 33104412 DOI: 10.1086/711955] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
AbstractTemperature is a crucial environmental component that imposes physiological constraints and ultimately produces variation in life-history traits. Temperatures experienced by mothers can influence offspring phenotypes, including growth and sex ratios, especially in ectothermic species. However, mechanisms by which thermal information can be passed onto offspring have been underexplored. Here, we investigated corticosterone as a potential mediator of thermal maternal effects. We held female jacky dragons (Amphibolurus muricatus) in two different thermal regimes (short [7 h] or long [11 h] basking treatments), then quantified plasma corticosterone levels and tested for correlations between the resulting corticosterone levels and reproductive outputs. Lizards in the long-bask treatment had significantly higher corticosterone levels than those in the short-bask treatment. Maternal corticosterone, in turn, had sex-dependent effects on offspring hatching size but was not associated with maternal reproductive effort or offspring sex or growth. In contrast, maternal body condition was strongly positively related to both reproductive output (including clutch size and total number of eggs) and offspring size at hatching but had no effect on offspring growth. Basking treatment also interacted with condition and corticosterone to affect egg mass and hatchling snout-vent length, respectively. When we tested for relationships between corticosterone levels and body condition, we found corticosterone to be negatively related to condition in long-bask lizards but only in the postbreeding season. These findings indicate that thermal opportunity alters physiology, with potential consequences for fitness. Moreover, the results suggest interactive influences of temperature, corticosterone, and condition as mediators of maternal effects.
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Sex‐dependent effects of maternal stress: Stressed moms invest less in sons than daughters. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART 2018; 329:317-322. [DOI: 10.1002/jez.2192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2017] [Revised: 05/22/2018] [Accepted: 05/24/2018] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
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Gruber J, Cunningham GD, While GM, Wapstra E. Disentangling sex allocation in a viviparous reptile with temperature-dependent sex determination: a multifactorial approach. J Evol Biol 2017; 31:267-276. [PMID: 29194826 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2017] [Revised: 11/26/2017] [Accepted: 11/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Females are predicted to alter sex allocation when ecological, physiological and behavioural variables have different consequences on the fitness of male and female offspring. Traditionally, tests of sex allocation have examined single causative factors, often ignoring possible interactions between multiple factors. Here, we used a multifactorial approach to examine sex allocation in the viviparous skink, Niveoscincus ocellatus. We integrated a 16-year observational field study with a manipulative laboratory experiment to explore whether the effects of the maternal thermal environment interact with the resources available to females for reproduction to affect sex allocation decisions. We found strong effects of temperature on sex allocation in the field, with females born in warm conditions and males in cold conditions; however, this was not replicated in the laboratory. In contrast, we found no effect of female resource availability on sex allocation, either independently, or in interaction with temperature. These results corresponded with an overall lack of an effect of resource availability on any of the life history traits that we predicted would mediate the benefits of differential sex allocation in this system, suggesting that selection for sex allocation in response to resource availability may be relatively weak. Combined, these results suggest that temperature may be the predominant factor driving sex allocation in this system.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Gruber
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - G D Cunningham
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tas., Australia
| | - G M While
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tas., Australia
| | - E Wapstra
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tas., Australia
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Wu YQ, Qu YF, Wang XJ, Gao JF, Ji X. Does the oviparity-viviparity transition alter the partitioning of yolk in embryonic snakes? BMC Evol Biol 2017; 17:235. [PMID: 29187161 PMCID: PMC5707827 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-017-1083-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2017] [Accepted: 11/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The oviparity-viviparity transition is a major evolutionary event, likely altering the reproductive process of the organisms involved. Residual yolk, a portion of yolk remaining unutilized at hatching or birth as parental investment in care, has been investigated in many oviparous amniotes but remained largely unknown in viviparous species. Here, we used data from 20 (12 oviparous and 8 viviparous) species of snakes to see if the oviparity-viviparity transition alters the partitioning of yolk in embryonic snakes. We used ANCOVA to test whether offspring size, mass and components at hatching or birth differed between the sexes in each species. We used both ordinary least squares and phylogenetic generalized least squares regressions to test whether relationships between selected pairs of offspring components were significant. We used phylogenetic ANOVA to test whether offspring components differed between oviparous and viviparous species and, more specifically, the hypothesis that viviparous snakes invest more in the yolk as parental investment in embryogenesis to produce more well developed offspring that are larger in linear size. Results In none of the 20 species was sex a significant source of variation in any offspring component examined. Newborn viviparous snakes on average contained proportionally more water and, after accounting for body dry mass, had larger carcasses but smaller residual yolks than did newly hatched oviparous snakes. The rates at which carcass dry mass (CDM) and fat body dry mass (FDM) increased with residual yolk dry mass (YDM) did not differ between newborn oviparous and viviparous snakes. Neither CDM nor FDM differed between newborn oviparous and viviparous snakes after accounting for YDM. Conclusions Our results are not consistent with the hypothesis that the partitioning of yolk between embryonic and post-embryonic stages differs between snakes that differ in parity mode, but instead show that the partitioning of yolk in embryonic snakes is species-specific or phylogenetically related. We conclude that the oviparity-viviparity transition does not alter yolk partitioning in embryonic snakes. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12862-017-1083-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan-Qing Wu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210023, China
| | - Yan-Fu Qu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210023, China
| | - Xue-Ji Wang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210023, China
| | - Jian-Fang Gao
- Hangzhou Key Laboratory for Animal Adaptation and Evolution, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310036, China
| | - Xiang Ji
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210023, China.
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Durso AM, French SS. Stable isotope tracers reveal a trade‐off between reproduction and immunity in a reptile with competing needs. Funct Ecol 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew M. Durso
- Department of Biology & The Ecology Center Utah State University Logan UT USA
| | - Susannah S. French
- Department of Biology & The Ecology Center Utah State University Logan UT USA
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Guida L, Awruch C, Walker TI, Reina RD. Prenatal stress from trawl capture affects mothers and neonates: a case study using the southern fiddler ray (Trygonorrhina dumerilii). Sci Rep 2017; 7:46300. [PMID: 28401959 PMCID: PMC5388872 DOI: 10.1038/srep46300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2016] [Accepted: 03/14/2017] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Assessing fishing effects on chondrichthyan populations has predominantly focused on quantifying mortality rates. Consequently, sub-lethal effects of capture stress on the reproductive capacity of chondrichthyans are largely unknown. We investigated the reproductive consequences of capture on pregnant southern fiddler rays (Trygonorrhina dumerilii) collected from Swan Bay, Australia, in response to laboratory-simulated trawl capture (8 h) followed immediately by air exposure (30 min). Immediately prior to, and for up to 28 days post trawling, all females were measured for body mass (BM), sex steroid concentrations (17-β estradiol, progesterone, testosterone) and granulocyte to lymphocyte (G:L) ratio. At parturition, neonates were measured for total length (TL), BM and G:L ratio. Trawling reduced maternal BM and elevated the G:L ratio for up to 28 days. Trawling did not significantly affect any sex steroid concentrations relative to controls. Neonates from trawled mothers were significantly lower in BM and TL than control animals, and had an elevated G:L ratio. Our results show that capture of pregnant T. dumerilii can influence their reproductive potential and affect the fitness of neonates. We suggest other viviparous species are likely to be similarly affected. Sub-lethal effects of capture, particularly on reproduction, require further study to improve fisheries management and conservation of chondrichthyans.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Guida
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - C Awruch
- CESIMAR (Centro Para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos) - CENPAT- CONICET, Puerto Madryn, Chubut U9120ACD, Argentina.,School of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia
| | - T I Walker
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - R D Reina
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
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Wang Y, Zeng ZG, Ma L, Li SR, Du WG. Food restriction affects maternal investment but not neonate phenotypes in a viviparous lizard. Zool Res 2017; 38:81-87. [PMID: 28409503 PMCID: PMC5396030 DOI: 10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2017.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2017] [Accepted: 03/03/2017] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Food availability significantly affects an animal's energy metabolism, and thus its phenotype, survival, and reproduction. Maternal and offspring responses to food conditions are critical for understanding population dynamics and life-history evolution of a species. In this study, we conducted food manipulation experiments in field enclosures to identify the effect of food restriction on female reproductive traits and postpartum body condition, as well as on hatchling phenotypes, in a lacertid viviparous lizard from the Inner Mongolian desert steppe of China. Females under low-food availability treatment (LFT) had poorer immune function and body condition compared with those under high-food availability treatment (HFT). The food availability treatments significantly affected the litter size and litter mass of the females, but not their gestation period in captivity or brood success, or the body size, sprint speed, and sex ratio of the neonates. Females from the LFT group had smaller litter sizes and, therefore, lower litter mass than those from the HFT group. These results suggest that female racerunners facing food restriction lay fewer offspring with unchanged body size and locomotor performance, and incur a cost in the form of poor postpartum body condition and immune function. The flexibility of maternal responses to variable food availability represents an important life strategy that could enhance the resistance of lizards to unpredictable environmental change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Wang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservational Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Zhi-Gao Zeng
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservational Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Liang Ma
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservational Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Shu-Ran Li
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservational Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Wei-Guo Du
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservational Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
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Allelic expression of mammalian imprinted genes in a matrotrophic lizard, Pseudemoia entrecasteauxii. Dev Genes Evol 2016; 226:79-85. [DOI: 10.1007/s00427-016-0531-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2015] [Accepted: 02/11/2016] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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Blackburn DG. Viviparous placentotrophy in reptiles and the parent-offspring conflict. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART B-MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION 2015; 324:532-48. [DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2015] [Accepted: 03/10/2015] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel G. Blackburn
- Departmentof Biology; Electron Microscopy Center; Trinity College; Hartford Connecticut
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Van Dyke JU, Griffith OW, Thompson MB. High Food Abundance Permits the Evolution of Placentotrophy: Evidence from a Placental Lizard, Pseudemoia entrecasteauxii. Am Nat 2014; 184:198-210. [DOI: 10.1086/677138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Itonaga K, Edwards A, Wapstra E, Jones S. Interpopulational variation in costs of reproduction related to pregnancy in a viviparous lizard. ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2012. [DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2012.702686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Vaughan OR, Sferruzzi-Perri AN, Fowden AL. Maternal corticosterone regulates nutrient allocation to fetal growth in mice. J Physiol 2012; 590:5529-40. [PMID: 22930269 DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.2012.239426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Stresses during pregnancy that increase maternal glucocorticoids reduce birth weight in several species. However, the role of natural glucocorticoids in the mother in fetal acquisition of nutrients for growth remains unknown. This study aimed to determine whether fetal growth was reduced as a consequence of altered amino acid supply when mice were given corticosterone in their drinking water for 5 day periods in mid to late pregnancy (day, D, 11-16 or D14-19). Compared to controls drinking tap water, fetal weight was always reduced by corticosterone. At D16, corticosterone had no effect on materno-fetal transfer of [(14)C]methylaminoisobutyric acid (MeAIB), although placental MeAIB accumulation and expression of the Slc38a1 and Slc38a2 transporters were increased. However, at D19, 3 days after treatment ended, materno-fetal transfer of MeAIB was increased by 37% (P < 0.04). During treatment at D19, placental accumulation and materno-fetal transfer of MeAIB were reduced by 40% (P < 0.01), although expression of Slc38a1 was again elevated. Permanent reductions in placental vascularity occurred during the earlier but not the later period of treatment. Placental Hsd11b2 expression, which regulates feto-placental glucocorticoid bioavailability, was also affected by treatment at D19 only. Maternal corticosterone concentrations inversely correlated with materno-fetal MeAIB clearance and fetal weight at D19 but not D16. On D19, weight gain of the maternal carcass was normal during corticosterone treatment but reduced in those mice treated from D11 to D16, in which corticosterone levels were lowest. Maternal corticosterone is, therefore, a physiological regulator of the amino acid supply for fetal growth via actions on placental phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Owen R Vaughan
- Centre for Trophoblast Research, Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EG, UK.
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Itonaga K, Jones SM, Wapstra E. Effects of maternal basking and food quantity during gestation provide evidence for the selective advantage of matrotrophy in a viviparous lizard. PLoS One 2012; 7:e41835. [PMID: 22848629 PMCID: PMC3406071 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0041835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2011] [Accepted: 06/29/2012] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
The evolution of matrotrophy (i.e., direct supply of nutrients by the mother during gestation) may be associated with high maternal energy availability during gestation. However, we lack knowledge about the selective advantages of matrotrophic viviparity (live-bearing) in reptiles. In reptiles, the interaction between body temperature and food intake affect maternal net energy gain. In the present study, we examined the effects of basking and food availability (2 by 2 factorial design) during gestation on offspring phenotype in a matrotrophic viviparous lizard (Pseudemoia entrecasteauxii). Subsequently, we investigated if the maternal effects were context-dependent using offspring growth rate as an indicator of the adaptive significance of matrotrophy. Offspring were exposed either to the same thermal conditions as their mothers experienced or to thermal conditions different from those experienced by their mothers. We provide the first evidence that an interaction between maternal thermal and maternal food conditions during gestation strongly affects offspring phenotype, including date of birth, body size and performance ability, which affect offspring fitness. Offspring growth rate was dependent on offspring thermal conditions, but was not influenced by maternal effects or offspring sex. Matrotrophic viviparity provided gravid females with the means to enhance offspring fitness through greater energetic input to offspring when conditions allowed it (i.e., extended basking opportunity with high food availability). Therefore, we suggest that selective advantages of matrotrophic viviparity in P. entrecasteauxii may be associated with high maternal energy availability during gestation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keisuke Itonaga
- School of Zoology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
| | - Susan M. Jones
- School of Zoology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
| | - Erik Wapstra
- School of Zoology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
- * E-mail:
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Itonaga K, Wapstra E, Jones SM. Evidence for placental transfer of maternal corticosterone in a viviparous lizard. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 2011; 160:184-9. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2011.05.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2011] [Revised: 05/25/2011] [Accepted: 05/26/2011] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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