ORCID Profile
0000-0002-4051-8969
Current Organisation
University of Otago
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Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 09-12-2020
DOI: 10.1101/2020.12.09.416727
Abstract: In a time of rapid environmental change, understanding how the challenges experienced by one generation can influence the fitness of future generations is critically needed. Using tolerance assays, transcriptomic and methylome approaches, we use zebrafish as a model to investigate transgenerational acclimation to hypoxia. We show that short-term paternal exposure to hypoxia endows offspring with greater tolerance to acute hypoxia. We detected two hemoglobin genes that are significantly upregulated by more than 7-fold in the offspring of hypoxia exposed males. Moreover, the offspring which maintained equilibrium the longest showed greatest upregulation in hemoglobin expression. We did not detect differential methylation at any of the differentially expressed genes, suggesting that another epigenetic mechanism is responsible for alterations in gene expression. Overall, our findings suggest that a ‘memory’ of past hypoxia exposure is maintained and that this environmentally induced information is transferred to subsequent generations, pre-acclimating progeny to cope with hypoxic conditions.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-07-2015
DOI: 10.1111/BRV.12210
Abstract: Maternal nutrition can have long-term effects on offspring morphology, physiology and behaviours. However, it is unclear whether mothers 'program' offspring behavioural coping strategy (proactive/reactive) according to the predicted nutritional quality of their future environment. We conducted a systematic review on this topic and meta-analytically synthesized relevant experimental data on mice and rats (46 studies). We included data from experiments where dams were subjected to caloric restriction, protein restriction or overfeeding around gestation and subsequently measured offspring activity, exploration, or anxiety. Overall, little evidence existed for effects of maternal nutrition on the three investigated behavioural traits. The high heterogeneity observed in the data set suggests that maternal programming may sometimes occur. However, because offspring had access to a balanced diet before testing, behaviours may have been reprogrammed. Our results may indicate that reprogrammed behaviours could ameliorate negative effects associated with sub-optimal nutrition in early life. Further, our systematic review revealed clear knowledge gaps and fruitful future research avenues.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-12-2021
DOI: 10.1111/BRV.12819
Abstract: Within populations, in iduals often show repeatable variation in behaviour, called ‘animal personality’. In the last few decades, numerous empirical studies have attempted to elucidate the mechanisms maintaining this variation, such as life‐history trade‐offs. Theory predicts that among‐in idual variation in behavioural traits could be maintained if traits that are positively associated with reproduction are simultaneously associated with decreased survival, such that different levels of behavioural expression lead to the same net fitness outcome. However, variation in resource acquisition may also be important in mediating the relationship between in idual behaviour and fitness components (survival and reproduction). For ex le, if certain phenotypes (e.g. dominance or aggressiveness) are associated with higher resource acquisition, those in iduals may have both higher reproduction and higher survival, relative to others in the population. When in iduals differ in their ability to acquire resources, trade‐offs are only expected to be observed at the within‐in idual level (i.e. for a given amount of resource, if an in idual increases its allocation to reproduction, it comes at the cost of allocation to survival, and vice versa ), while among in iduals traits that are associated with increased survival may also be associated with increased reproduction. We performed a systematic review and meta‐analysis, asking: ( i ) do among‐in idual differences in behaviour reflect among‐in idual differences in resource acquisition and/or allocation, and ( ii ) is the relationship between behaviour and fitness affected by the type of behaviour and the testing environment? Our meta‐analysis consisted of 759 estimates from 193 studies. Our meta‐analysis revealed a positive correlation between pairs of estimates using both survival and reproduction as fitness proxies. That is, for a given study, behaviours that were associated with increased reproduction were also associated with increased survival, suggesting that variation in behaviour at the among‐in idual level largely reflects differences among in iduals in resource acquisition. Furthermore, we found the same positive correlation between pairs of estimates using both survival and reproduction as fitness proxies at the phenotypic level. This is significant because we also demonstrated that these phenotypic correlations primarily reflect within‐in idual correlations. Thus, even when accounting for among‐in idual differences in resource acquisition, we did not find evidence of trade‐offs at the within‐in idual level. Overall, the relationship between behaviour and fitness proxies was not statistically different from zero at the among‐in idual, phenotypic, and within‐in idual levels this relationship was not affected by behavioural category nor by the testing condition. Our meta‐analysis highlights that variation in resource acquisition may be more important in driving the relationship between behaviour and fitness than previously thought, including at the within‐in idual level. We suggest that this may come about via heterogeneity in resource availability or age‐related effects, with higher resource availability and/or age leading to state‐dependent shifts in behaviour that simultaneously increase both survival and reproduction. We emphasize that future studies examining the mechanisms maintaining behavioural variation in populations should test the link between behavioural expression and resource acquisition – both within and among in iduals. Such work will allow the field of animal personality to develop specific predictions regarding the mediating effect of resource acquisition on the fitness consequences of in idual behaviour.
No related grants have been discovered for Anne Besson.