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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 23, 2026

Microinjection for Transgenesis and Genome Editing in Threespine Sticklebacks

Microinjection for Transgenesis and Genome Editing in Threespine Sticklebacks

Published on: May 13, 2016

Paternal programming in sticklebacks.

Laura R Stein¹, Alison M Bell¹

¹School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, U.S.A.

Animal Behaviour

|March 25, 2016

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Fathers can program offspring for future environments. Paternal care in sticklebacks, influenced by predation risk, altered offspring traits like size and behavior, preparing them for anticipated conditions.

Keywords:

Gasterosteus aculeatus behavioural development fathering maternal effect parental effect paternal care phenotypic plasticity predation risk transgenerational plasticity

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Last Updated: Mar 23, 2026

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary Biology
Behavioral Ecology
Animal Behavior

Background:

Maternal care's influence on offspring is well-documented.
Paternal effects on offspring phenotypes are less understood.
Paternal programming hypothesis suggests fathers prepare offspring for future environments.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if fathers can program offspring phenotypes based on environmental cues.
To test the role of paternal behavior in mediating these effects.
To determine if these programmed traits persist into adulthood.

Main Methods:

Male threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) were exposed to predation risk during fathering.
Paternal behavior was monitored and quantified.
Offspring phenotypes (size, body condition, activity, anti-predator responses) were assessed in adulthood.

Main Results:

Fathers exposed to predation risk altered their behavior.
Offspring of fathers exposed to risk exhibited phenotypes associated with high predation pressure (smaller size, reduced condition, lower activity).
Increased paternal attentiveness correlated with stronger offspring anti-predator responses.

Conclusions:

Behaviorally mediated paternal programming influences offspring phenotypes.
Fathers can adaptively adjust offspring traits to match anticipated environmental conditions.
Paternal programming impacts offspring traits throughout development into adulthood.