Multigenerational effects can have important and sex‐dependent effects on offspring. Sex allocation theory predicts that females should differentially invest in sons and daughters depending on sex‐specific fitness returns and costs of investment. Maternal stress‐relevant (glucocorticoid) hormones may be one mechanism driving this effect. We investigated how maternal stress hormones differentially affected sons and daughters by manipulating levels of the glucocorticoid, corticosterone (CORT), in gravid female eastern fence lizards (
The vertebrate gut microbiota (bacterial, archaeal and fungal communities of the gastrointestinal tract) can have profound effects on the physiological processes of their hosts. Although relatively stable, changes in microbiome structure and composition occur due to changes in the environment, including exposure to stressors and associated increases in glucocorticoid hormones. Although a growing number of studies have linked stressor exposure to microbiome changes, few studies have experimentally explored the specific influence of glucocorticoids on the microbiome in wild animals, or across ecologically important processes (e.g., reproductive stages). Here we tested the response of the gut microbiota of adult female
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10367398
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Molecular Ecology
- Volume:
- 31
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 0962-1083
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 185-196
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract Sceloporus undulatus ) and quantifying reproductive investment and sex ratio of resulting clutches, and the mass, snout‐vent length, and body condition of sons versus daughters at hatching. We found no effect of maternal CORT‐treatment on the number or size of eggs laid or on the sex ratio of resulting offspring, but sons of CORT‐treated mothers were shorter, lighter, and of poorer body condition at hatching than were sons of control mothers. We found no difference in size or condition of daughters with maternal treatment. Our results suggest that maternal stress, mediated by elevations in maternal CORT concentrations, can have sex‐specific effects on offspring manifesting as lower investment in sons. -
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