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The origin of phenotypic novelty is a perennial question of genetics and evolution. To date, few studies of biological pattern formation specifically address multi-generational aspects of inheritance and phenotypic novelty. For quantitative traits influenced by many segregating alleles, offspring phenotypes are often intermediate to parental values. In other cases, offspring phenotypes can be transgressive to parental values. For example, in the model organism Mimulus (monkeyflower), the offspring of parents with solid-colored petals exhibit novel spotted petal phenotypes. These patterns are controlled by an activator-inhibitor gene regulatory network with a small number of loci. Here we develop and analyze a model of hybridization and pattern formation that accounts for the inheritance of a diploid gene regulatory network composed of either homozygous or heterozygous alleles. We find that the resulting model of multi-generational Turing-type pattern formation can reproduce transgressive petal phenotypes similar to those observed in Mimulus. The model gives insight into how non-patterned parent phenotypes can yield phenotypically transgressive, patterned offspring, aiding in the development of empirically testable hypotheses.
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Does parental experience with visual and olfactory predator cues have consequences for offspring in guppies?
Parental effects, or parental phenotypes affecting offspring phenotypes, are widespread across taxa, yet there is significant variation within species regarding which offspring traits are affected. One reason for this observed variation could be the type of sensory cues present in the parental environment. By exposing parents to sensory cues containing different information about the same ecological stressor, we can determine whether information is integrated differently by parents based on cue type, leading to differential trait development in offspring. In this study, we utilized predator cues, which can be found in isolation and in combination in natural settings, to test whether cue type plays a role in differential phenotype expression in Trinidadian guppies, Poecilia reticulata. Parents were exposed to predator cues (visual, olfactory or both combined) over 14 days, after which we assessed life history traits, morphology and activity. Offspring were then raised with no predator cues and tested for morphology and activity in adulthood. No differences in life history traits were observed across 10 weeks. In line with previous findings, behaviour differed in both the parent and F1 generations in response to predator cues; however, effects were dependent on cue type and sex. Our results suggest that exposure to even a single sensory cue is strong enough to initiate a cascade of responses both in parent and F1 generations, and that interacting factors such as cue type and sex lend importance to understanding consequences of parent risk perception for offspring.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2021880
- PAR ID:
- 10540710
- Publisher / Repository:
- Animal Behaviour
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Animal Behaviour
- Volume:
- 214
- Issue:
- C
- ISSN:
- 0003-3472
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 241 to 255
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- developmental plasticity intergenerational plasticity parental effect Poecilia reticulata predation risk sensory cue transgenerational plasticity uncertainty
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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The origin of phenotypic novelty is a perennial question of genetics and evolution. To date, few studies of biological pattern formation specifically address multi-generational aspects of inheritance and phenotypic novelty. For quantitative traits influenced by many segregating alleles, offspring phenotypes are often intermediate to parental values. In other cases, offspring phenotypes can be transgressive to parental values. For example, in the model organism Mimulus (monkeyflower), the offspring of parents with solid-colored petals exhibit novel spotted petal phenotypes. These patterns are controlled by an activator-inhibitor gene regulatory network with a small number of loci. Here we develop and analyze a model of hybridization and pattern formation that accounts for the inheritance of a diploid gene regulatory network composed of either homozygous or heterozygous alleles. We find that the resulting model of multi-generational Turing-type pattern formation can reproduce transgressive petal phenotypes similar to those observed in Mimulus. The model gives insight into how non-patterned parent phenotypes can yield phenotypically transgressive, patterned offspring, aiding in the development of empirically testable hypotheses.more » « less
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Abstract The origin of phenotypic novelty is a perennial question of genetics and evolution. To date, few studies of biological pattern formation specifically address multi-generational aspects of inheritance and phenotypic novelty. For quantitative traits influenced by many segregating alleles, offspring phenotypes are often intermediate to parental values. In other cases, offspring phenotypes can be transgressive to parental values. For example, in the model organismMimulus(monkeyflower), the offspring of parents with solid-colored petals exhibit novel spotted petal phenotypes. These patterns are controlled by an activator-inhibitor gene regulatory network with a small number of loci. Here we develop and analyze a model of hybridization and pattern formation that accounts for the inheritance of a diploid gene regulatory network composed of either homozygous or heterozygous alleles. We find that the resulting model of multi-generational Turing-type pattern formation can reproduce transgressive petal phenotypes similar to those observed inMimulus. The model gives insight into how non-patterned parent phenotypes can yield phenotypically transgressive, patterned offspring, aiding in the development of empirically testable hypotheses.more » « less
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Abstract Parents faced with a predator must choose between their own safety versus taking care of their offspring. Each choice can have fitness costs. Life‐history theory predicts that longer‐lived species should be less willing than shorter‐lived species to return to care for their offspring after a predator disturbance because they have more opportunities to reproduce in the future. We increased adult predation risk during incubation for 40 bird species in north temperate, tropical, and south temperate latitudes. We found that species with higher adult survival probabilities were more cautious, waiting longer before returning to the nest to provide care. Contrary to other studies, we also found that parents were more risk averse and waited longer to return in smaller than larger species, likely reflecting greater vulnerability of smaller species. Ultimately, the relative risk a predator poses to a species and the probability of future reproduction predict parental risk taking across the world.more » « less
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ABSTRACT It has long been recognized that the environment experienced by parents can influence the traits of offspring (i.e. ‘parental effects’). Much research has explored whether mothers respond to predictable shifts in environmental signals by modifying offspring phenotypes to best match future conditions. Many organisms experience conditions that theory predicts should favor the evolution of such ‘anticipatory parental effects’, but such predictions have received limited empirical support. ‘Condition transfer effects’ are an alternative to anticipatory effects that occur when the environment experienced by parents during development influences offspring fitness. Condition transfer effects occur when parents that experience high-quality conditions produce offspring that exhibit higher fitness irrespective of the environmental conditions in the offspring generation. Condition transfer effects are not driven by external signals but are instead a byproduct of past environmental quality. They are also likely adaptive but have received far less attention than anticipatory effects. Here, we review the generality of condition transfer effects and show that they are much more widespread than is currently appreciated. Condition transfer effects are observed across taxa and are commonly associated with experimental manipulations of resource conditions experienced by parents. Our Review calls for increased research into condition transfer effects when considering the role of parental effects in ecology and evolution.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.06.014
