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Sarma RR, Crossland MR, Eyck HJF, DeVore JL, Edwards RJ, Cocomazzo M, Zhou J, Brown GP, Shine R, Rollins LA. Intergenerational effects of manipulating DNA methylation in the early life of an iconic invader. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200125. [PMID: 33866803 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
In response to novel environments, invasive populations often evolve rapidly. Standing genetic variation is an important predictor of evolutionary response but epigenetic variation may also play a role. Here, we use an iconic invader, the cane toad (Rhinella marina), to investigate how manipulating epigenetic status affects phenotypic traits. We collected wild toads from across Australia, bred them, and experimentally manipulated DNA methylation of the subsequent two generations (G1, G2) through exposure to the DNA methylation inhibitor zebularine and/or conspecific tadpole alarm cues. Direct exposure to alarm cues (an indicator of predation risk) increased the potency of G2 tadpole chemical cues, but this was accompanied by reductions in survival. Exposure to alarm cues during G1 also increased the potency of G2 tadpole cues, indicating intergenerational plasticity in this inducible defence. In addition, the negative effects of alarm cues on tadpole viability (i.e. the costs of producing the inducible defence) were minimized in the second generation. Exposure to zebularine during G1 induced similar intergenerational effects, suggesting a role for alteration in DNA methylation. Accordingly, we identified intergenerational shifts in DNA methylation at some loci in response to alarm cue exposure. Substantial demethylation occurred within the sodium channel epithelial 1 subunit gamma gene (SCNN1G) in alarm cue exposed individuals and their offspring. This gene is a key to the regulation of sodium in epithelial cells and may help to maintain the protective epidermal barrier. These data suggest that early life experiences of tadpoles induce intergenerational effects through epigenetic mechanisms, which enhance larval fitness. This article is part of the theme issue 'How does epigenetics influence the course of evolution?'
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Affiliation(s)
- Roshmi R Sarma
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia
| | - Michael R Crossland
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia
| | - Harrison J F Eyck
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia
| | - Jayna L DeVore
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney 2006, Australia
| | - Richard J Edwards
- School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia
| | - Michael Cocomazzo
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong 3216, Australia
| | - Jia Zhou
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia.,School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Waite Campus, PMB 1 Glen Osmond, 5064, Australia
| | - Gregory P Brown
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney 2109, Australia
| | - Richard Shine
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney 2109, Australia
| | - Lee A Rollins
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia.,Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong 3216, Australia
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Ord J, Holmes KE, Holt WV, Fazeli A, Watt PJ. Premature birth stunts early growth and is a possible driver of stress-induced maternal effects in the guppy Poecilia reticulata. J Fish Biol 2020; 96:506-515. [PMID: 31846081 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.14235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2019] [Accepted: 12/16/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
We tested the effects of gestational stress, principally in the form of alarm cue extracted from the skin of conspecifics, on reproduction in female guppies (Poecilia reticulata) and the growth and behaviour of their offspring. Offspring from mothers exposed to alarm cue exhibited stunted growth in the first few days post-partum, which appeared to be mediated by shortening of the gestation period, the length of which directly correlated with growth rate within the first 6 days post-partum. Mature offspring did not differ in behaviour or stress responses compared with controls and so the effects of maternal predation stress did not appear to persist into adulthood. A different form of gestational stress, dietary restriction, did not significantly affect offspring growth, though brood size was reduced, suggesting that the effects of predation stress were not mediated by differences in resource demand or consumption.
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Affiliation(s)
- James Ord
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
- Department of Pathophysiology, Institute of Biomedicine and Translational Medicine, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Kelle E Holmes
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - William V Holt
- Academic Unit of Reproductive and Developmental Medicine, Department of Oncology and Metabolism, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Alireza Fazeli
- Department of Pathophysiology, Institute of Biomedicine and Translational Medicine, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
- Academic Unit of Reproductive and Developmental Medicine, Department of Oncology and Metabolism, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Penelope J Watt
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
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Cartolano MC, Tullis-Joyce P, Kubicki K, McDonald MD. Do Gulf Toadfish Use Pulsatile Urea Excretion to Chemically Communicate Reproductive Status? Physiol Biochem Zool 2019; 92:125-139. [PMID: 30657409 DOI: 10.1086/701497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Gulf toadfish (Opsanus beta) are exceptionally capable of switching from excreting ammonia as their primary nitrogenous waste to excreting predominantly urea in distinct pulses across the gill. Previous studies suggest that these urea pulses may be used for intraspecific chemical communication. To determine whether pulsatile urea excretion communicates reproductive status, toadfish were sexed using ultrasound and delivered conspecific-conditioned seawater (CC-SW) that previously housed a conspecific of the opposite sex, a conspecific chemical alarm cue (avoidance control), or a prey cue (attraction control). Swim behavior, attraction to or avoidance of the cues, and changes in the pattern of pulsatile urea excretion were monitored during and after delivery. Gulf toadfish did not spend more time in zones that were delivered CC-SW or prey cue. However, male toadfish spent significantly more time swimming after the delivery of female cues than control seawater (SW). In contrast, toadfish did not appear to have an immediate avoidance response to the conspecific alarm cue. Additionally, significantly more toadfish pulsed within 7 h of CC-SW and prey cue delivery compared to control SW, and pulse frequency was 1.6 times greater in response to CC-SW than control SW. These results, in combination with increased urea production and excretion the during breeding season, suggest that toadfish may use pulsatile urea excretion to communicate with conspecifics when exposed to chemosensory cues from the opposite sex.
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Ferrari MCO, McCormick MI, Meekan MG, Simpson SD, Nedelec SL, Chivers DP. School is out on noisy reefs: the effect of boat noise on predator learning and survival of juvenile coral reef fishes. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 285:rspb.2018.0033. [PMID: 29386370 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.0033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2018] [Accepted: 01/08/2018] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Noise produced by anthropogenic activities is increasing in many marine ecosystems. We investigated the effect of playback of boat noise on fish cognition. We focused on noise from small motorboats, since its occurrence can dominate soundscapes in coastal communities, the number of noise-producing vessels is increasing rapidly and their proximity to marine life has the potential to cause deleterious effects. Cognition-or the ability of individuals to learn and remember information-is crucial, given that most species rely on learning to achieve fitness-promoting tasks, such as finding food, choosing mates and recognizing predators. The caveat with cognition is its latent effect: the individual that fails to learn an important piece of information will live normally until the moment where it needs the information to make a fitness-related decision. Such latent effects can easily be overlooked by traditional risk assessment methods. Here, we conducted three experiments to assess the effect of boat noise playbacks on the ability of fish to learn to recognize predation threats, using a common, conserved learning paradigm. We found that fish that were trained to recognize a novel predator while being exposed to 'reef + boat noise' playbacks failed to subsequently respond to the predator, while their 'reef noise' counterparts responded appropriately. We repeated the training, giving the fish three opportunities to learn three common reef predators, and released the fish in the wild. Those trained in the presence of 'reef + boat noise' playbacks survived 40% less than the 'reef noise' controls over our 72 h monitoring period, a performance equal to that of predator-naive fish. Our last experiment indicated that these results were likely due to failed learning, as opposed to stress effects from the sound exposure. Neither playbacks nor real boat noise affected survival in the absence of predator training. Our results indicate that boat noise has the potential to cause latent effects on learning long after the stressor has gone.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maud C O Ferrari
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, WCVM, University of Saskatchewan, 52 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, Canada
| | - Mark I McCormick
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, and College of Marine and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
| | - Mark G Meekan
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, c/o UWA OI (MO96), 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Stephen D Simpson
- College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, Devon EX4 4QD, UK
| | - Sophie L Nedelec
- College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, Devon EX4 4QD, UK.,School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Douglas P Chivers
- Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, 112 Science Place, Saskatoon, Canada
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Bjornson F, Anderson GW. Body condition, rather than size, predicts risk-taking and resource holding potential in hatchery reared juvenile lake sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens. J Fish Biol 2018; 93:1188-1196. [PMID: 30345517 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.13840] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2018] [Accepted: 10/10/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
To test how body size might influence lake sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens anti-predator behaviour, asymmetrically body-size-matched individuals were exposed to conspecific chemical alarm cues with the presence or absence of food. Additionally, to test resource holding potential (RHP), hatchery-reared juvenile A. fulvescens were asymmetrically (c. 60% mass difference) and symmetrically (c. 3% mass difference) size matched in individual tanks. Results suggest that A. fulvescens of higher body condition, rather than body length or mass, may take greater risks when presented with foraging opportunities and realize a higher RHP. As hatcheries are likely to select individuals of higher body condition, more research is necessary to understand the role body condition may have on behavioural responses and ensuing fitness post-release.
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Affiliation(s)
- Forrest Bjornson
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| | - Gary W Anderson
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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Hume JB, Wagner M. A death in the family: Sea lamprey ( Petromyzon marinus) avoidance of confamilial alarm cues diminishes with phylogenetic distance. Ecol Evol 2018; 8:3751-3762. [PMID: 29686855 PMCID: PMC5901161 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2017] [Revised: 01/05/2018] [Accepted: 01/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Alarm signals released after predator attack function as reliable public information revealing areas of high risk. The utility of this information can extend beyond species boundaries, benefiting heterospecifics capable of recognizing and responding appropriately to the signal. Nonmutually exclusive hypotheses explaining the acquisition of heterospecific reactivity to cues suggest it could be conserved phylogenetically following its evolution in a common ancestor (a species‐level effect) and/or learned during periods of shared risk (a population‐level effect; e.g., shared predators). Using a laboratory‐based space‐use behavioral assay, we tested the response of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) to the damage‐released alarm cues of five confamilial (sympatric and allopatric) species and two distantly related out‐groups: a sympatric teleost (white sucker Catostomus commersonii) and an allopatric agnathan (Atlantic hagfish Myxine glutinosa). We found that sea lamprey differed in their response to conspecific and heterospecific odors; exhibiting progressively weaker avoidance of cues derived from more phylogenetically distant confamilials regardless of current overlap in distribution. Odors from out‐groups elicited no response. These findings suggest that a damage‐released alarm cue is at least partially conserved within the Petromyzontidae and that sea lamprey perceives predator attacks directed to closely related taxa. These findings are consistent with similar observations from gastropod, amphibian and bony fish taxa, and we discuss this in an eco‐evo context to provide a plausible explanation for the acquisition and maintenance of the response in sea lamprey.
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Affiliation(s)
- John B Hume
- Department of Fisheries & Wildlife Michigan State University East Lansing MI USA
| | - Michael Wagner
- Department of Fisheries & Wildlife Michigan State University East Lansing MI USA
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Barry TP, Dehnert GK, Hoppe PD, Sorensen PW. Chemicals released by predation increase the growth rate of yellow perch, Perca flavescens. J Fish Biol 2017; 91:1730-1736. [PMID: 29044513 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.13475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2017] [Accepted: 08/24/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Water-soluble factors associated with walleye Sander vitreus predation on either yellow perch Perca flavescens or fathead minnows Pimephales promelas markedly increased the growth rate of P. flavescens. The findings suggest that P. flavescens possess an inducible growth-promoting mechanism regulated by water-born chemicals. It may be possible to increase the growth rate of farm-raised P. flavescens by manipulating this system.
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Affiliation(s)
- T P Barry
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Wisconsin Aquaculture Research Laboratory, 660 N Park Street, Madison, WI, 53706, U.S.A
| | - G K Dehnert
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Wisconsin Aquaculture Research Laboratory, 660 N Park Street, Madison, WI, 53706, U.S.A
| | - P D Hoppe
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Wisconsin Aquaculture Research Laboratory, 660 N Park Street, Madison, WI, 53706, U.S.A
| | - P W Sorensen
- Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, Upper Buford Circle, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, 55108, U.S.A
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