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Microinjection for Transgenesis and Genome Editing in Threespine Sticklebacks
Published on: May 13, 2016
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The interplay between sperm-mediated and care-mediated paternal effects in threespine sticklebacks
Jennifer K Hellmann1, Erika R Carlson1, Alison M Bell2,3
1Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, U.S.A.
Animal Behaviour
|October 18, 2021
Summary
Parental predation risk exposure influences offspring traits via sperm, but paternal care does not alter these effects in threespine stickleback. This highlights independent non-genetic inheritance mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Behavioral ecology
- Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance
Background:
- Parental experiences can non-genetically influence offspring phenotypes across generations.
- Offspring may receive cues from parents via multiple mechanisms, including gametes and parental care.
- The interplay between sperm-mediated effects and parental care in shaping offspring traits is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if paternal care mitigates or amplifies sperm-mediated paternal effects.
- To examine the independent and combined influences of paternal experience and care on offspring phenotypes.
- To understand the mechanisms of non-genetic inheritance in threespine stickleback.
Main Methods:
- Manipulated paternal exposure to predation risk before fertilization in threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus).
- Compared offspring phenotypes (activity, cortisol response) under conditions with and without paternal care.
- Analyzed differences in paternal care behaviors (fanning) between predator-exposed and control fathers.
Main Results:
- Offspring of predator-exposed fathers exhibited reduced activity and elevated cortisol levels after simulated predation.
- Predator-exposed fathers altered paternal care, reducing early fanning and increasing late fanning.
- Paternal care modifications did not significantly affect offspring traits, suggesting independent effects of sperm and care.
Conclusions:
- Sperm-mediated non-genetic effects of paternal experience on offspring traits can occur independently of paternal care.
- Paternal care did not compensate for or amplify the phenotypic effects induced by paternal experience via sperm.
- Parents may utilize multiple, distinct non-genetic mechanisms to influence offspring phenotypes across generations.
Keywords:
Gasterosteus aculeatusintergenerational plasticitynongenetic inheritanceparental carepaternal carephenotypic plasticitypredation risktransgenerational plasticityMore Related Videos
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