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Shephard AM, Hund AK, Snell-Rood EC. Metabolic stress as a driver of life-history plasticity: flight promotes longevity and antioxidant production in monarch butterflies. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20231616. [PMID: 37817587 PMCID: PMC10565393 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2023] [Accepted: 09/15/2023] [Indexed: 10/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Life-history theory predicts that increased investment in traits related to reproduction will be associated with a reduced ability to invest in survival or longevity. One mechanistic explanation for this trade-off is that metabolic stress generated from current fitness activities (e.g. reproduction or locomotion) will increase somatic damage, leading to reduced longevity. Yet, there has been limited support for this damage-based hypothesis. A possible explanation is that individuals can respond to increases in metabolic stress by plastically inducing cellular maintenance responses, which may increase, rather than decrease, longevity. We tested this possibility by experimentally manipulating investment in flight activity (a metabolic stressor) in the migratory monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), a species whose reproductive fitness is dependent on survival through a period of metabolically intensive migratory flight. Consistent with the idea that metabolic stress stimulated investment in self-maintenance, increased flight activity enhanced monarch butterfly longevity and somatic tissue antioxidant capacity, likely at a cost to reproductive investment. Our study implicates a role for metabolic stress as a driver of life-history plasticity and supports a model where current engagement in metabolically stressful activities promotes somatic survival by stimulating investment in self-maintenance processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander M. Shephard
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Amanda K. Hund
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Emilie C. Snell-Rood
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
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Culbert BM, Border SE, Fialkowski RJ, Bolitho I, Dijkstra PD. Social status influences relationships between hormones and oxidative stress in a cichlid fish. Horm Behav 2023; 152:105365. [PMID: 37119610 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2023.105365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Revised: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 04/12/2023] [Indexed: 05/01/2023]
Abstract
An individual's social environment can have widespread effects on their physiology, including effects on oxidative stress and hormone levels. Many studies have suggested that variation in oxidative stress experienced by individuals of different social statuses might be due to endocrine differences, however, few studies have evaluated this hypothesis. Here, we assessed whether a suite of markers associated with oxidative stress in different tissues (blood/plasma, liver, and gonads) had social status-specific relationships with circulating testosterone or cortisol levels in males of a cichlid fish, Astatotilapia burtoni. Across all fish, blood DNA damage (a global marker of oxidative stress) and gonadal synthesis of reactive oxygen species [as indicated by NADPH-oxidase (NOX) activity] were lower when testosterone was high. However, high DNA damage in both the blood and gonads was associated with high cortisol in subordinates, but low cortisol in dominants. Additionally, high cortisol was associated with greater production of reactive oxygen species (greater NOX activity) in both the gonads (dominants only) and liver (dominants and subordinates). In general, high testosterone was associated with lower oxidative stress across both social statuses, whereas high cortisol was associated with lower oxidative stress in dominants and higher oxidative stress in subordinates. Taken together, our results show that differences in the social environment can lead to contrasting relationships between hormones and oxidative stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brett M Culbert
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
| | - Shana E Border
- Department of Biology, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA; Illinois State University, School of Biological Sciences, Normal, IL, USA
| | | | - Isobel Bolitho
- University of Manchester, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Manchester, UK
| | - Peter D Dijkstra
- Department of Biology, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA; Neuroscience Program, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA; Institute for Great Lakes Research, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA.
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Simmons LW, Ng SH, Lovegrove M. Condition‐dependent seminal fluid gene expression and intergenerational paternal effects on ejaculate quality. Funct Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Leigh W. Simmons
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology School of Biological Sciences The University of Western Australia Crawley WA Australia
| | - Soon Hwee Ng
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology School of Biological Sciences The University of Western Australia Crawley WA Australia
| | - Maxine Lovegrove
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology School of Biological Sciences The University of Western Australia Crawley WA Australia
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Pintus E, Ros-Santaella JL. Impact of Oxidative Stress on Male Reproduction in Domestic and Wild Animals. Antioxidants (Basel) 2021; 10:antiox10071154. [PMID: 34356386 PMCID: PMC8301082 DOI: 10.3390/antiox10071154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Revised: 06/27/2021] [Accepted: 07/16/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Oxidative stress occurs when the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) overcome the antioxidant defenses of the organism, jeopardizing several biological functions, including reproduction. In the male reproductive system, oxidative stress not only impairs sperm fertility but also compromises offspring health and survival, inducing oxidative damage to lipids, proteins and nucleic acids. Although a clear link between oxidative stress and male fertility disorders has been demonstrated in humans and laboratory rodents, little information is available about the implications of impaired redox homeostasis in the male fertility of domestic and wild animals. Therefore, this review aims to provide an update regarding the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that are associated with oxidative stress in the male reproductive system and their impact on the reproductive performance of domestic and wild animals. The most recent strategies for palliating the detrimental effects of oxidative stress on male fertility are reviewed together with their potential economic and ecological implications in the livestock industry and biodiversity conservation.
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Friesen CR, Noble DWA, Olsson M. The role of oxidative stress in postcopulatory selection. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20200065. [PMID: 33070735 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Two decades ago, von Schantz et al. (von Schantz T, Bensch S, Grahn M, Hasselquist D, Wittzell H. 1999 Good genes, oxidative stress and condition-dependent sexual signals. Proc. R. Soc. B 266, 1-12. (doi:10.1098/rspb.1999.0597)) united oxidative stress (OS) biology with sexual selection and life-history theory. This set the scene for analysis of how evolutionary trade-offs may be mediated by the increase in reactive molecules resulting from metabolic processes at reproduction. Despite 30 years of research on OS effects on infertility in humans, one research area that has been left behind in this integration of evolution and OS biology is postcopulatory sexual selection-this integration is long overdue. We review the basic mechanisms in OS biology, why mitochondria are the primary source of ROS and ATP production during oxidative metabolism, and why sperm, and its performance, is uniquely susceptible to OS. We also review how postcopulatory processes select for antioxidation in seminal fluids to counter OS and the implications of the net outcome of these processes on sperm damage, sperm storage, and female and oocyte manipulation of sperm metabolism and repair of DNA to enhance offspring fitness. This article is part of the theme issue 'Fifty years of sperm competition'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher R Friesen
- School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Daniel W A Noble
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, ACT 2600, Australia
| | - Mats Olsson
- School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, New South Wales, Australia.,Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 463, SE 405 30, Gothenburg, Sweden
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Aich U, Jennions MD, Fox RJ. An experimental test of the role of male mating history on paternal effects in the livebearer fish Gambusia holbrooki. Biol Lett 2020; 16:20190945. [PMID: 32097600 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2019.0945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies often show that paternal age affects offspring fitness. However, such effects could be due either to age, or to a male's previous mating effort (which is necessarily confounded with age). We experimentally tested whether differences in the mating history of old males affect offspring performance in the mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki. Upon maturation, males were housed for a duration of the natural field-breeding season (23 weeks) either with mating access to females (lifetime-mating), or with visual but no physical access to females (no-mating). We then paired these males with a female to test whether male mating history had a significant effect on their mate's breeding success or offspring performance. The daughters, but not the sons, of 'no-mating' treatment males matured significantly sooner, and at a significantly smaller size, than those of 'lifetime-mating' treatment males. There was, however, no effect of male mating history on their daughters' initial fecundity, or on proxy measures of their sons' reproductive success. These results, when combined with earlier studies showing effects of male mating history on sperm quality, growth and immunity, suggest that variation in paternal effects currently attributed to male age could partly arise because older males have usually mated more often than younger males.
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Affiliation(s)
- Upama Aich
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2600, Australia
| | - Michael D Jennions
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2600, Australia
| | - Rebecca J Fox
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2600, Australia
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