Limits to sustained energy intake. X. Effects of fur removal on reproductive performance in laboratory mice

Król, Elżbieta; Murphy, Michelle; Speakman, John R.

doi:10.1242/jeb.009779

Cited by 128 publications

(147 citation statements)

References 93 publications

(109 reference statements)

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“…We have previously repeated the shaving experiment of Król and colleagues (Król et al, 2007) on Swiss mice according to the same protocol with that performed on MF1 mice, and found that fur removal had an effect on food intake but although the effect on pup growth was in the expected direction it was not statistically significant (Zhao and Cao, 2009;Zhao et al, 2010a). These data were different from those observed in MF1 mice, and provided support for the peripheral limitation hypothesis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…In contrast, when exposed to the hot conditions, the females had a reduced ability to dissipate heat, resulting in a lower food intake and less milk production . Consistent with this idea, dorsally shaved MF1 mice had increased thermal conductivity, and were thus able to produce more milk and wean heavier litters (Król et al, 2007). Studies on Brandt's voles (Wu et al, 2009) and Mongolian gerbils (Yang et al, 2013) both revealed that high temperatures (30°C) induced a reduction in milk production.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…So far, studies in mice separating the temperature at which the mother and offspring are kept are lacking -probably because of the technical difficulties in designing such an experiment in an animal where the offspring suckle more continuously. Nevertheless, although pup growth limitations may explain why Swiss mice raising natural litters exposed to the cold do not significantly upregulate their milk production (Zhao, 2012) despite elevated food intake, this cannot explain why dorsally shaved Swiss mice at 21°C also do not significantly increase their milk production (Zhao and Cao, 2009;Zhao et al, 2010a) in contrast to MF1 mice (Król et al, 2007). This suggests that at least under some circumstances peripheral limitation at the mammary glands may be a limit on performance in this strain of mouse.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

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Limits to sustained energy intake. XVIII. Energy intake and reproductive output during lactation in Swiss mice raising small litters

Zhao

Song

et al. 2013

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYLimits to sustained energy intake (SusEI) during lactation in Swiss mice have been suggested to reflect the secretory capacity of the mammary glands. However, an alternative explanation is that milk production and food intake are regulated to match the limited growth capacity of the offspring. In the present study, female Swiss mice were experimentally manipulated in two wayslitter sizes were adjusted to be between 1 and 9 pups and mice were exposed to either warm (21°C) or cold (5°C) conditions from day 10 of lactation. Energy intake, number of pups and litter mass, milk energy output (MEO), thermogenesis, mass of the mammary glands and brown adipose tissue cytochrome c oxidase activity of the mothers were measured. At 21 and 5°C, pup mass at weaning was almost independent of litter size. Positive correlations were observed between the number of pups, litter mass, asymptotic food intake and MEO. These data were consistent with the suggestion that in small litters, pup requirements may be the major factor limiting milk production. Pups raised at 5°C had significantly lower body masses than those raised at 21°C. This was despite the fact that milk production and energy intake at the same litter sizes were both substantially higher in females raising pups at 5°C. This suggests that pup growth capacity is lower in the cold, perhaps due to pups allocating ingested energy to fuel thermogenesis. Differences in observed levels of milk production under different conditions may then reflect a complex interplay between factors limiting maternal performance (peripheral limitation and heat dissipation: generally better when it is cooler) and factors influencing maximum pup growth (litter size and temperature: generally better when it is hotter), and may together result in an optimal temperature favouring reproduction.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

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Limits to sustained energy intake. XVIII. Energy intake and reproductive output during lactation in Swiss mice raising small litters

Zhao

Song

et al. 2013

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…the muscles or the mammary glands (Hammond et al, 1996;Zhao and Cao, 2009;Zhao et al, 2010). More recently, the 'heat dissipation limit theory' has been proposed, which suggests that animals may be limited by the capacity to dissipate heat generated as a by-product of processing food and producing milk (Król and Speakman, 2003a;Król et al, 2007;Speakman and Król, 2010;Speakman and Król, 2011). Although these experiments have greatly contributed to our understanding of the physiological mechanisms involved in imposing limits on SusEI, the individual variability in these limits has been largely ignored.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limits to sustained energy intake. XIV. Heritability of reproductive performance in mice

Vaanholt

Sinclair

Speakman

2013

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYLimits to sustained energy intake (SusEI) are important because they constrain many aspects of animal performance. Individual variability in SusEI may be imposed by genetic factors that are inherited from parents to offspring. Here, we investigated heritability of reproductive performance in MF1 mice. Food intake, milk energy output (MEO) and litter mass were measured in mothers (F 0 ) and daughters (F 1 ) that were raising litters of 10 pups. Cross-fostering was designed so that half of each litter consisted of biological offspring and the rest came from one unrelated female (i.e. fostered pups). Food intake increased linearly during early lactation and reached a plateau during late lactation (day 9-13, called the asymptotic food intake, FI AS , equivalent to SusEI). Parent-offspring regression showed that FI AS , MEO and litter mass were all positively and significantly related between mothers and their biological daughters, but no significant relationships were found between the same traits for mothers and fostered daughters. FI AS at peak lactation was significantly correlated to adult food intake and body mass when the mice were 6months old and not lactating. In conclusion, a large part of the variation in FI AS could be explained by genetic variation or maternal effects in pregnancy whereas non-genetic maternal effects in lactation were negligible. As a consequence, biological daughters of mothers with high reproductive performance (i.e. high milk production and hence higher litter mass at weaning) had a better reproductive performance themselves, independent of the mother that raised them during lactation.

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“…This may take place especially during late lactation, and failure to dissipate produced heat that might lead to hyperthermia, which has many negative effects on physiological functions [52]. Thus, heat dissipation limit can be considered as the key physiological mechanism linking current energy expenditure to life history in endothermic animals [40].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A trade-off between current and future sex allocation revealed by maternal energy budget in a small mammal

et al. 2011

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Sex-allocation theories generally assume differential fitness costs of raising sons and daughters. Yet, experimental confirmation of such costs is scarce and potential mechanisms are rarely addressed. While the most universal measure of physiological costs is energy expenditure, only one study has related the maternal energy budget to experimentally controlled offspring sex. Here, we experimentally test this in the bank vole (Myodes glareolus) by simultaneously manipulating the litter's size and sex ratio immediately after birth. Two weeks after manipulation, when mothers were at the peak of lactation and were pregnant with concurrent litters, we assessed their energy budget. We found that maternal food consumption and daily energy expenditure increased with the size of the litters being lactated. Importantly, the effects of offspring sex on energy budget depended on the characteristics of the simultaneously gestating litters. Specifically, the mothers nursing all-male litters and concurrently pregnant with male-biased litters had the highest energy expenditure. These had consequences for the next generation, as size of female offspring from the concurrent pregnancy of these mothers was compromised. Our study attests a higher cost of sons, consequently leading to a lower investment in them, and reveals the significance of offspring sex in moulding the trade-off between current and future maternal investment.

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Limits to sustained energy intake. X. Effects of fur removal on reproductive performance in laboratory mice

Abstract: . Manipulating metabolic parameters to improve growth rate and milk secretion.

Cited by 128 publications

References 93 publications

Limits to sustained energy intake. XVIII. Energy intake and reproductive output during lactation in Swiss mice raising small litters

Limits to sustained energy intake. XVIII. Energy intake and reproductive output during lactation in Swiss mice raising small litters

Limits to sustained energy intake. XIV. Heritability of reproductive performance in mice

A trade-off between current and future sex allocation revealed by maternal energy budget in a small mammal

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