Sperm pre-fertilization thermal environment shapes offspring phenotype and performance

Kekäläinen, Jukka; Oskoei, Párástu; Janhunen, Matti; Koskinen, Heikki; Kortet, Raine; Huuskonen, Hannu

doi:10.1242/jeb.181412

Cited by 27 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 57 publications

(73 reference statements)

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“…When the phenotype is induced by the female parent, the plasticity is usually referred to as maternal effects (Roff, 1997;Mousseau and Fox, 1998). Cross generational plasticity can also be mediated by the male parent (e.g., Kekalainen et al, 2018).…”

Section: On Genetic Polymorphism Developmental Plasticity and Phenotmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological and Evolutionary Consequences of Environmental Change and Management Actions for Migrating Fish

et al. 2019

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Migration strategies in fishes comprise a rich, ecologically important, and socioeconomically valuable example of biological diversity. The variation and flexibility in migration is evident between and within individuals, populations, and species, and thereby provides a useful model system that continues to inform how ecological and evolutionary processes mold biodiversity and how biological systems respond to environmental heterogeneity and change. Migrating fishes are targeted by commercial and recreational fishing and impact the functioning of aquatic ecosystems. Sadly, many species of migrating fish are under increasing threat by exploitation, pollution, habitat destruction, dispersal barriers, overfishing, and ongoing climate change that brings modified, novel, more variable and extreme conditions and selection regimes. All this calls for protection, sustainable utilization and adaptive management. However, the situation for migrating fishes is complicated further by actions aimed at mitigating the devastating effects of such threats. Changes in river connectivity associated with removal of dispersal barriers such as dams and construction of fishways, together with compensatory breeding, and supplemental stocking can impact on gene flow and selection. How this in turn affects the dynamics, genetic structure, genetic diversity, evolutionary potential, and viability of spawning migrating fish populations remains largely unknown. In this narrative review we describe and discuss patterns, causes, and consequences of variation and flexibility in fish migration that are scientifically interesting and concern key issues within the framework of evolution and maintenance of biological diversity. We showcase how the evolutionary solutions to key questions that define migrating fish-whether or not to migrate, why to migrate, where to migrate, and when to migrate-may depend on individual characteristics and ecological conditions. We explore links between environmental change and migration strategies, and discuss whether and how threats associated with overexploitation, environmental makeovers, and management actions may differently influence vulnerability of individuals, populations, and species depending on the variation and flexibility of their migration strategies. Our goal is to provide a broad overview of knowledge in this emerging area, spur future research, and development of informed management, and ultimately promote sustainable utilization and protection of migrating fish and their ecosystems.

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Section: On Genetic Polymorphism Developmental Plasticity and Phenotmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological and Evolutionary Consequences of Environmental Change and Management Actions for Migrating Fish

et al. 2019

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“…Within ecologically relevant boundaries, spermatozoa of some species can be remarkably tolerant to changes in temperature in terms of their absolute capacity to activate and fertilise oocytes. Nevertheless, there is evidence that changes in temperature experienced by males (or their ejaculates) prior to conception can have important implications for offspring fitness (Gasparini et al 2018, Kekäläinen et al 2018. Recent work suggests that epigenetic alterations to the germline may drive such effects.…”

Section: Thermal Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ejaculate-mediated paternal effects: evidence, mechanisms and evolutionary implications

et al. 2019

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Despite serving the primary objective of ensuring that at least one sperm cell reaches and fertilises an ovum, the male ejaculate (i.e. spermatozoa and seminal fluid) is a compositionally complex ‘trait’ that can respond phenotypically to subtle changes in conditions. In particular, recent research has shown that environmentally and genetically induced changes to ejaculates can have implications for offspring traits that are independent of the DNA sequence encoded into the sperm’s haploid genome. In this review, we compile evidence from several disciplines and numerous taxonomic systems to reveal the extent of such ejaculate-mediated paternal effects (EMPEs). We consider a number of environmental and genetic factors that have been shown to impact offspring phenotypes via ejaculates, and where possible, we highlight the putative mechanistic pathways by which ejaculates can act as conduits for paternal effects. We also highlight how females themselves can influence EMPEs, and in some cases, how maternally derived sources of variance may confound attempts to test for EMPEs. Finally, we consider a range of putative evolutionary implications of EMPEs and suggest a number of potentially useful approaches for exploring these further. Overall, our review confirms that EMPEs are both widespread and varied in their effects, although studies reporting their evolutionary effects are still in their infancy.

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“…Furthermore, in chicken, maternal heat stress influenced embryonic heat shock protein expression and caused global DNA hypomethylation, but also increased oxidative damage (Zhu et al, 2017), while any corresponding influence on thermoregulation and adaptive plasticity has not been studied. Transgenerational plasticity could include a multitude of mediators of parental temperature effects, such as DNA methylation/histone modification, transfer of (small)mRNAs, hormones and other components in the eggs and sperm, with possible links to (the development of) thermoregulation, as shown in other taxa (Adrian-Kalchhauser et al, 2018;Kekalainen et al, 2018;Salinas and Munch, 2012;Weyrich et al, 2016a;Weyrich et al, 2016b).…”

Section: Transgenerational Plasticitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Endocrinology of thermoregulation in birds in a changing climate

Ruuskanen¹,

Hsu²,

Nord³

2019

Preprint

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The ability to maintain a (relatively) stable body temperature in a wide range of thermal environments is a unique feature of endotherms such as birds. Endothermy is acquired and regulated via various endocrine and molecular pathways, and ultimately allows wide aerial, aquatic, and terrestrial distribution in variable environments. However, due to our changing climate, birds are faced with potential new challenges for thermoregulation, such as more frequent extreme weather events, lower predictability of climate, and increasing mean temperature. We provide a compact overview on thermoregulation in birds and its endocrine and molecular mechanisms, pinpointing gaps in current knowledge and recent developments, focusing especially on non-model species to understand the generality of, and variation in, mechanisms. We highlight plasticity in thermoregulation and underlying endocrine regulation, because thorough understanding of plasticity is key to predicting responses to changing environmental conditions. To this end, we discuss how changing climate is likely to affect avian thermoregulation and associated endocrine traits, and how the interplay between these physiological processes may play a role in facilitating or constraining adaptation to a changing climate. We conclude that while the general patterns of endocrine regulation of thermogenesis are quite well understood, at least in poultry, the molecular and endocrine mechanisms that regulate e.g. mitochondria function and plasticity of thermoregulation over different time scales (from transgenerational to daily variation) need to be unveiled. Plasticity may ameliorate climate change effects on thermoregulation to some extent, but the increased frequency of extreme weather events, and associated in resource availability, may be beyond the scope and/or speed for plastic responses. This could lead to selection for more tolerant phenotypes, if the underlying physiological traits harbour genetic and individual variation for selection to act on – a key question for future research.

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Sperm pre-fertilization thermal environment shapes offspring phenotype and performance

Cited by 27 publications

References 57 publications

Ecological and Evolutionary Consequences of Environmental Change and Management Actions for Migrating Fish

Ecological and Evolutionary Consequences of Environmental Change and Management Actions for Migrating Fish

Ejaculate-mediated paternal effects: evidence, mechanisms and evolutionary implications

Endocrinology of thermoregulation in birds in a changing climate

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