Social Instability in Laying Quail: Consequences on Yolk Steroids and Offspring's Phenotype

Abstract

Individual phenotypic characteristics of many species are influenced by non-genetic maternal effects. Female birds can influence the development of their offspring before birth via the yolk steroid content of their eggs. We investigated this prenatal maternal effect by analysing the influence of laying females' social environment on their eggs' hormonal content and on their offspring's development. Social instability was applied to groups of laying Japanese quail females. We evaluated the impact of this procedure on laying females, on yolk steroid levels and on the general development of chicks. Agonistic interactions were more frequent between females kept in an unstable social environment (unstable females) than between females kept in a stable social environment (stable females). Testosterone concentrations were higher in unstable females' eggs than in those of stable females. Unstable females' chicks hatched later and developed more slowly during their first weeks of life than those of stable females. The emotional reactivity of unstable females' chicks was higher than that of stable females' chicks. In conclusion, our study showed that social instability applied to laying females affected, in a non-genetic way, their offspring's development, thus stressing the fact that females' living conditions during laying can have transgenerational effects.

Trans-generational effects of prenatal stress in quail

“…These prenatal stress effects could be mediated by modifications of steroid hormone levels of maternal origin present in eggs [15]. Indeed, yolk testosterone levels increase in eggs of females living under stressful conditions during laying [13,14,16,17]. The effects of prenatal exposure to elevated yolk testosterone levels have been studied mainly by applying yolk hormonal injections.…”

Long-life partners or sex friends? Impact of parental pair bond on offspring personality

“…Prenatal social stress of female mammals (due to social instability, crowding and agonistic social encounters) increases their offspring's emotional reactivity and impairs their social behaviours (Braastad, 1998;Kaiser and Sachser, 2005). Social instability of laying Japanese quail increases their offspring's emotional reactivity in the presence of novelty and when separated from conspecifics (Guibert et al, 2010). In contrast to stressful social situations, our study shows that the establishment …”

“…Interestingly, whereas social stress induced an increase of quail offspring's emotional reactivity (Guibert et al, 2010), the establishment of a pair bond decreased offspring emotivity. Similar effects have been observed when females are exposed to positive stimulation.…”

“…These effects are linked to modulation of the expression of the hypothalamopituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis, inducing in particular modification of plasmatic concentrations of glucocorticoids and androgens in the female (Braastad, 1998;Kaiser and Sachser, 2005;Welberg and Seckl, 2001). Similarly, negative social interactions during the laying period affect chicks' physiological and behavioural phenotypes in relation to modulation of the hormonal contents of the female's eggs [social instability (Guibert et al, 2010;Mazuc et al, 2003); breeding density (Reed and Vleck, 2001;Schwabl, 1997); aggression by conspecifics (Whittingham and Schwabl, 2002)]. Avian sexual partners that develop a pair bond, even for a short time, reap benefits that include mutual preening, fewer conflictual interactions between mates, joining forces against intruders, food sharing and/or behavioural synchronization (Amat, 2000;Emery et al, 2007;Komdeur and Hatchwell, 1999;Orcutt and Orcutt, 1976).…”

Elevated Progesterone In Yolk As a Moderator of Prenatal and Postnatal Auditory Learning in Bobwhite Quail

“…While the egg is being formed in the reproductive tract of female birds, theca and granulosa cells that surround the oocyte produce hormones that end up in different layers of egg yolk (Gil, 2003). Maternal yolk hormone deposits during egg formation are influenced by a variety of environmental conditions; including their physical environment (Schwabl, 1996;Guesdon et al, 2011;Guibert et al, 2010), sexual and social context (Gil, 2008), social status (Tanvez, Parisot, Chastel, & Leboucher, 2008), body condition (Verboven et al, 2003), age (Okuliarova, Skrobanek, & Zeman, 2009), and laying order in a clutch (Gil, 2008).…”