ORCID Profile
0000-0002-6295-3742
Current Organisation
The University of Edinburgh
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Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 12-2016
DOI: 10.1086/688918
Abstract: Organizational processes during prenatal development can have long-term effects on an in idual's phenotype. Because these early developmental stages are sensitive to environmental influences, mothers are in a unique position to alter their offspring's phenotype by differentially allocating resources to their developing young. However, such prenatal maternal effects are difficult to disentangle from other forms of parental care, additive genetic effects, and/or other forms of maternal inheritance, h ering our understanding of their evolutionary consequences. Here we used ergent selection lines for high and low prenatal maternal investment and their reciprocal line crosses in a precocial bird-the Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)-to quantify the relative importance of genes and prenatal maternal effects in shaping offspring phenotype. Maternal but not paternal origin strongly affected offspring body size and survival throughout development. Although the effects of maternal egg investment faded over time, they were large at key life stages. Additionally, there was evidence for other forms of maternal inheritance affecting offspring phenotype at later stages of development. Our study is among the first to successfully disentangle prenatal maternal effects from all other sources of confounding variation and highlights the important role of prenatal maternal provisioning in shaping offspring traits closely linked to fitness.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-03-2015
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 09-2017
DOI: 10.1002/EVL3.21
Abstract: Depending on the genetic architecture of male and female fitness, sex-specific selection can have negative, positive, or neutral consequences for the opposite sex. Theory predicts that conflict between male and female function may drive the breakdown of intrasexual genetic correlations, allowing sexual dimorphism in sexually antagonistic traits. Reproductive traits are the epitome of this, showing highly differentiated proximate functions between the sexes. Here we use ergent artificial selection lines for female reproductive investment to test how female-specific selection on a sex-limited trait affects male reproductive success in a precocial bird, the Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica). We demonstrate that selection for increased egg investment in females positively affects male reproductive success both in competitive and non-competitive mating situations. This increased reproductive success was linked to a relatively larger left testis in males originating from lines selected for high female reproductive investment. Given that female quail have functional gonads only on their left side, this correlated response indicates that selection has acted on the shared developmental basis of male and female gonads. Our study thereby provides evidence for a positive genetic correlation between key reproductive traits in males and females despite a high degree of sexual dimorphism, and suggests that, in this system, selection on reproductive function is sexually concordant.
Publisher: California Digital Library (CDL)
Date: 14-05-2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 08-2019
DOI: 10.1002/EVL3.125
Abstract: Maternal effects are prevalent in nature and significantly contribute to variation in phenotypic trait expression. However, little attention has been paid to the factors shaping variation in the traits mediating these effects (maternal effectors). Specific maternal effectors are often not identified, and typically they are assumed to be inherited in an additive genetic and autosomal manner. Given that these effectors can cause long-lasting effects on offspring phenotype, it is likely that they may also affect themselves in the next generation. Although the existence of such cascading maternal effects has been discussed and modeled, empirical ex les of such effects are rare, let alone quantitative estimates of their strength and evolutionary consequences. Here, we demonstrate that the investment a mother makes in her eggs positively affects the egg investment of her daughters. Through reciprocally crossing artificially selected lines for ergent prenatal maternal investment in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica), we demonstrate that the size of eggs daughters lay resembles the egg size of their maternal line significantly more than that of their paternal line, highlighting that egg size is in part maternally inherited. Correspondingly, we find that variation in the daughters' egg size is in part determined by maternal identity, in addition to substantial additive genetic effects. Furthermore, this maternal variance in offspring egg size is fully explained by maternal egg size, demonstrating the presence of a positive cascading effect of maternal egg size on offspring egg size. Finally, we use an evolutionary model to quantify the consequences of covariance between cascading maternal and additive genetic effects for both maternal effector and offspring body mass evolution. Our study demonstrates that by lifying the amount of variation available for selection to act on, positive cascading maternal effects can significantly enhance the evolutionary potential of maternal effectors and the offspring traits that they affect.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 06-2020
DOI: 10.1002/EVL3.166
Abstract: The trade-off between reproduction and self-maintenance is a cornerstone of life history theory, yet its proximate underpinnings are elusive. Here, we used an artificial selection approach to create replicated lines of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) that differ genetically in their reproductive investment. Whole transcriptome sequencing revealed that females from lines selected for high reproductive output show a consistent upregulation of genes associated with reproduction but a simultaneous downregulation of immune genes. Concordant phenotypic differences in immune function (i.e., specific antibody response against keyhole limpet hemocyanin) were observed between the selection lines, even in males who do not provide parental care. Our findings demonstrate the key role of obligate transcriptional constraints in the maintenance of life history variation. These constraints set fundamental limits to productivity and health in natural and domestic animal populations.
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 30-10-2019
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-11-2019
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-2023
DOI: 10.1111/JEB.14230
Publisher: California Digital Library (CDL)
Date: 24-01-2019
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-10-2023
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-03-2016
DOI: 10.1038/HDY.2016.16
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 14-09-2016
Abstract: Sex-linkage is predicted to evolve in response to sex-specific or sexually antagonistic selection. In line with this prediction, most sex-linked genes are associated with reproduction in the respective sex. In addition to traits directly involved in fertility and fecundity, mediators of maternal effects may be predisposed to evolve sex-linkage, because they indirectly affect female fitness through their effect on offspring phenotype. Here, we test for sex-linked inheritance of a key mediator of prenatal maternal effects in oviparous species, the transfer of maternally derived testosterone to the eggs. Consistent with maternal inheritance, we found that in Japanese quail ( Coturnix japonica ) granddaughters resemble their maternal (but not their paternal) grandmother in yolk testosterone deposition. This pattern of resemblance was not due to non-genetic priming effects of testosterone exposure during prenatal development, as an experimental manipulation of yolk testosterone levels did not affect the females' testosterone transfer to their own eggs later in life. Instead, W chromosome and/or mitochondrial variation may underlie the observed matrilineal inheritance pattern. Ultimately, the inheritance of mediators of maternal effects along the maternal line will allow for a fast and direct response to female-specific selection, thereby affecting the dynamics of evolutionary processes mediated by maternal effects.
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 03-05-2019
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-04-2023
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 07-09-2023
Publisher: California Digital Library (CDL)
Date: 06-01-2019
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-08-2016
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.CUB.2016.07.047
Abstract: Shinichi Nakagawa and Joel Pick introduce what we can learn from house sparrows.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-04-2022
DOI: 10.1038/S41559-022-01694-2
Abstract: The major frameworks for predicting evolutionary change assume that a phenotype's underlying genetic and environmental components are normally distributed. However, the predictions of these frameworks may no longer hold if distributions are skewed. Despite this, phenotypic skew has never been decomposed, meaning the fundamental assumptions of quantitative genetics remain untested. Here we demonstrate that the substantial phenotypic skew in the body size of juvenile blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) is driven by environmental factors. Although skew had little impact on our predictions of selection response in this case, our results highlight the impact of skew on the estimation of inheritance and selection. Specifically, the nonlinear parent-offspring regressions induced by skew, alongside selective disappearance, can strongly bias estimates of heritability. The ubiquity of skew and strong directional selection on juvenile body size imply that heritability is commonly overestimated, which may in part explain the discrepancy between predicted and observed trait evolution.
Publisher: California Digital Library (CDL)
Date: 31-08-2021
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-08-2023
DOI: 10.1002/JRSM.1663
Abstract: Extracting data from studies is the norm in meta‐analyses, enabling researchers to generate effect sizes when raw data are otherwise not available. While there has been a general push for increased reproducibility in meta‐analysis, the transparency and reproducibility of the data extraction phase is still lagging behind. Unfortunately, there is little guidance of how to make this process more transparent and shareable. To address this, we provide several steps to help increase the reproducibility of data extraction in meta‐analysis. We also provide suggestions of R software that can further help with reproducible data policies: the shinyDigitise and juicr packages. Adopting the guiding principles listed here and using the appropriate software will provide a more transparent form of data extraction in meta‐analyses.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-11-2017
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 12-08-2016
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 12-2016
Abstract: Natural selection favours increased investment in reproduction, yet considerable variation in parental investment is observed in natural populations. Life-history theory predicts that this variation is maintained by a trade-off between the benefits of increased reproductive investment and its associated costs for the parents. The nature of these costs of reproduction, however, remains poorly understood. The brain is an energetically highly expensive organ and increased reproductive investment may, therefore, negatively affect brain maintenance. Using artificial selection lines for high and low prenatal maternal investment in a precocial bird, the Japanese quail ( Coturnix japonica ), we provide experimental evidence for this hypothesis by showing that increased prenatal provisioning negatively affects the size of a particular brain region of the mother, the cerebellum. Our finding suggests that cognitive demands may constrain the evolution of parental investment, and vice versa, contributing to the maintenance of variation in reproductive behaviour in animal populations.
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Start Date: 2016
End Date: 2017
Funder: Swiss National Science Foundation
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