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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Stable Isotope In-Vivo Labeling for Mass-Spectrometry Identification of Paternal Metabolites Transferred from Sperm to Oocyte During Fertilization
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Developmental plasticity and the evolution of parental effects.

Tobias Uller1

  • 1Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK. tobias.uller@zoo.ox.ac.uk

Trends in Ecology & Evolution
|July 1, 2008
PubMed
Summary

Developmental plasticity, often involving parental effects, influences evolution by transmitting traits across generations. Understanding parent-offspring conflict and developmental modifications is key to resolving these effects and explaining adaptation.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Developmental biology

Background:

  • Developmental plasticity influences evolutionary processes.
  • Parental effects can mediate transgenerational transmission of phenotypic strategies.
  • Parent-offspring conflict can lead to suboptimal parental effects.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore how developmental plasticity and parental effects impact evolution.
  • To investigate the role of parent-offspring conflict in shaping parental effects.
  • To understand how proximate developmental studies can inform evolutionary questions.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing literature on developmental plasticity and parental effects.
  • Analysis of parent-offspring conflict in evolutionary contexts.
  • Synthesis of findings from plant and animal studies.

Main Results:

  • Parental effects can facilitate adaptive, context-dependent trait transmission.
  • Parent-offspring conflict often results in fitness trade-offs.
  • Resolving developmental modifications is crucial for evolutionary equilibrium.
  • Ecological studies of parental effects offer insights into adaptation.

Conclusions:

  • Developmental plasticity, particularly through parental effects, is a significant factor in evolution.
  • Parent-offspring conflict dynamics are central to understanding the evolution of parental effects.
  • Integrating proximate developmental research with ultimate evolutionary questions is essential for a comprehensive understanding.