scholarly journals Adaptive paternal effects? Experimental evidence that the paternal environment affects offspring performance

Ecology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 94 (11) ◽  
pp. 2575-2582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela J. Crean ◽  
John M. Dwyer ◽  
Dustin J. Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Paternal Effects ◽  
Offspring Performance

scholarly journals Short-term variation in sperm competition causes sperm-mediated epigenetic effects on early offspring performance in the zebrafish

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1785) ◽  
pp. 20140422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Zajitschek ◽  
Cosima Hotzy ◽  
Felix Zajitschek ◽  
Simone Immler
Keyword(s):  
Sperm Competition ◽  
Genetic Factors ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Paternal Effects ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Offspring Performance ◽  
Lower Survival Rate ◽  
Epigenetic Effects ◽  
Rapid Responses ◽  
Short Period

The inheritance of non-genetic factors is increasingly seen to play a major role in ecology and evolution. While the causes and consequences of epigenetic effects transmitted from the mother to the offspring have received ample attention, much less is known about how variation in the condition of the father affects the offspring. Here, we manipulated the intensity of sperm competition experienced by male zebrafish Danio rerio to investigate the potential for sperm-mediated epigenetic effects over a relatively short period of time. We found that the rapid responses of males to varying intensity of sperm competition not only affected sperm traits as shown previously, but also the performance of the resulting offspring. We observed that males exposed to high intensity of sperm competition produced faster swimming and more motile sperm, and sired offspring that hatched over a narrower time frame but exhibited a lower survival rate than males exposed to low intensity of sperm competition. Our results provide striking evidence for short-term paternal effects and the possible fitness consequences of such sperm-mediated non-genetic factors not only for the resulting offspring but also for the female.

scholarly journals Sperm variation within a single ejaculate affects offspring development in Atlantic salmon

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 20131040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Immler ◽  
Cosima Hotzy ◽  
Ghazal Alavioon ◽  
Erik Petersson ◽  
Göran Arnqvist
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Salmon ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Salmo Salar ◽  
Sperm Function ◽  
Transgenerational Effects ◽  
Offspring Performance ◽  
Sperm Activation ◽  
Affected Offspring ◽  
Offspring Development ◽  
Sperm Longevity

It is generally believed that variation in sperm phenotype within a single ejaculate has no consequences for offspring performance, because sperm phenotypes are thought not to reflect sperm genotypes. We show that variation in individual sperm function within an ejaculate affects the performance of the resulting offspring in the Atlantic salmon Salmo salar . We experimentally manipulated the time between sperm activation and fertilization in order to select for sperm cohorts differing in longevity within single ejaculates of wild caught male salmon. We found that within-ejaculate variation in sperm longevity significantly affected offspring development and hence time until hatching. Whether these effects have a genetic or epigenetic basis needs to be further evaluated. However, our results provide experimental evidence for transgenerational effects of individual sperm function.

scholarly journals Can paternal effects via seminal fluid contribute to the evolution of polyandry?

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. 20200680
Author(s):  
Leigh W. Simmons ◽  
Maxine Lovegrove
Keyword(s):  
Seminal Fluid ◽  
Field Cricket ◽  
Embryo Viability ◽  
Paternal Effects ◽  
Offspring Performance ◽  
Embryo Survival ◽  
Single Male ◽  
Genetic Components ◽  
Full Effect ◽  
Evolution Of Polyandry

Genetic benefits from mating with multiple males are thought to favour the evolution of polyandry. However, recent evidence suggests that non-genetic paternal effects via seminal fluid might contribute to the observed effects of polyandry on offspring performance. Here, we test this hypothesis using the field cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus . Using interference RNA, we first show that at least one seminal fluid protein is essential for embryo survival. We then show that polyandrous females mated to three different males produced embryos with higher pre-hatching viability than did monandrous females mated with the same male three times. Pseudo-polyandrous females that obtained sperm and seminal fluid from a single male and seminal fluid from two additional males had embryos with viabilities intermediate between monandrous and polyandrous females. Our results suggest either that ejaculate mediated paternal effects on embryo viability have both genetic and non-genetic components, or that seminal fluids transferred by castrated males provide only a subset of proteins contained within the normal ejaculate, and are unable to exert their full effect on embryo viability.

scholarly journals An experimental test of the role of male mating history on paternal effects in the livebearer fish Gambusia holbrooki

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 20190945 ◽  
Author(s):  
Upama Aich ◽  
Michael D. Jennions ◽  
Rebecca J. Fox
Keyword(s):  
Sperm Quality ◽  
Paternal Age ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Gambusia Holbrooki ◽  
Paternal Effects ◽  
Offspring Performance ◽  
Mating History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Previous Mating ◽  
Physical Access

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.

How do memory modules differentially contribute to familiarity and recollection?

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olya Hakobyan ◽  
Sen Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Recognition Memory ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Target Article ◽  
Memory Modules ◽  
Familiarity And Recollection ◽  
Memory Contents

Abstract We fully support dissociating the subjective experience from the memory contents in recognition memory, as Bastin et al. posit in the target article. However, having two generic memory modules with qualitatively different functions is not mandatory and is in fact inconsistent with experimental evidence. We propose that quantitative differences in the properties of the memory modules can account for the apparent dissociation of recollection and familiarity along anatomical lines.

Redox Reactions in Lipid Membranes as a Model for Primordial Energy-Conserving Systems

1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 437-442
Author(s):  
Salvatore Di Bernardo ◽  
Romana Fato ◽  
Giorgio Lenaz
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Lipid Membranes ◽  
Energy Supply ◽  
Redox Reactions ◽  
Living Systems ◽  
Asymmetric Distribution ◽  
Conservation Of Energy ◽  
Asymmetrical Distribution ◽  
Energy Conserving ◽  
Living Organisms

AbstractOne of the peculiar aspects of living systems is the production and conservation of energy. This aspect is provided by specialized organelles, such as the mitochondria and chloroplasts, in developed living organisms. In primordial systems lacking specialized enzymatic complexes the energy supply was probably bound to the generation and maintenance of an asymmetric distribution of charged molecules in compartmentalized systems. On the basis of experimental evidence, we suggest that lipophilic quinones were involved in the generation of this asymmetrical distribution of charges through vectorial redox reactions across lipid membranes.

A Method for Setting the Clearance Angle

1972 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 388-389
Author(s):  
Michael T. Bucek ◽  
Howard J. Arnott
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Light Source ◽  
Black Spot ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Clearance Angle ◽  
Crude Approximation ◽  
Ultrathin Sections

It is believed by the authors, with supporting experimental evidence, that as little as 0.5°, or less, knife clearance angle may be a critical factor in obtaining optimum quality ultrathin sections. The degree increments located on the knife holder provides the investigator with only a crude approximation of the angle at which the holder is set. With the increments displayed on the holder one cannot set the clearance angle precisely and reproducibly. The ability to routinely set this angle precisely and without difficulty would obviously be of great assistance to the operator. A device has been contrived to aid the investigator in precisely setting the clearance angle. This device is relatively simple and is easily constructed. It consists of a light source and an optically flat, front surfaced mirror with a minute black spot in the center. The mirror is affixed to the knife by placing it permanently on top of the knife holder.

Introductory Remarks

1980 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 598-599
Author(s):  
H. Mohri
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Contraction ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Constant Length ◽  
Thin Filaments ◽  
Bridge Formation ◽  
Thick Filaments ◽  
Sliding Mechanism ◽  
Radial Spokes ◽  
Cilia And Flagella

In 1959, Afzelius observed the presence of two rows of arms projecting from each outer doublet microtubule of the so-called 9 + 2 pattern of cilia and flagella, and suggested a possibility that the outer doublet microtubules slide with respect to each other with the aid of these arms during ciliary and flagellar movement. The identification of the arms as an ATPase, dynein, by Gibbons (1963)strengthened this hypothesis, since the ATPase-bearing heads of myosin molecules projecting from the thick filaments pull the thin filaments by cross-bridge formation during muscle contraction. The first experimental evidence for the sliding mechanism in cilia and flagella was obtained by examining the tip patterns of molluscan gill cilia by Satir (1965) who observed constant length of the microtubules during ciliary bending. Further evidence for the sliding-tubule mechanism was given by Summers and Gibbons (1971), using trypsin-treated axonemal fragments of sea urchin spermatozoa. Upon the addition of ATP, the outer doublets telescoped out from these fragments and the total length reached up to seven or more times that of the original fragment. Thus, the arms on a certain doublet microtubule can walk along the adjacent doublet when the doublet microtubules are disconnected by digestion of the interdoublet links which connect them with each other, or the radial spokes which connect them with the central pair-central sheath complex as illustrated in Fig. 1. On the basis of these pioneer works, the sliding-tubule mechanism has been established as one of the basic mechanisms for ciliary and flagellar movement.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document