Transgenerational variation in metabolism and life-history traits induced by maternal hypoxia in Daphnia magna

Abstract

Hypoxic stress can alter conspecific phenotype and additionally alter phenotypes of the filial generation, for example, via maternal or epigenetic processes. Lasting effects can also be seen across development and generations even after stressors have been removed. This study utilized the model of rapidly developing, parthenogenetic Daphnia to examine the intraspecific variability of response of exposure of a parental generation to hypoxia (4 kPa) within a single clone line across development, across broods, and across generations. Body mass across development and reproductive output were monitored in the parental generation and the first three broods of the first filial generation (which were not directly exposed to hypoxia). O(2) consumption across a wide Po(2) range (normoxia to anoxia) was assessed to determine whether exposure of the parental generation to hypoxia conferred hypoxia tolerance on the offspring and whether this transgenerational, epigenetic phenomenon varied intraspecifically. Differences in mass occurred in both the parental generation (hypoxia-exposed smaller during brood 1 and brood 2 neonate production) and the filial generation (e.g., brood 1 and 2 neonates from hypoxic mothers were initially smaller than control neonates). However, differences in mass were not accompanied by changes in reproductive output (assessed by brood number and neonate size). At day 0, first filial generation brood 1 neonates from hypoxia-exposed mothers had a higher metabolic rate than control neonates. However, this effect, like that of body mass, dissipated with development within a brood but also with subsequent broods. An isometric scaling exponent for [Formula: see text] was repeatedly observed across a wide Po(2) range (21-2 kPa) throughout neonatal development.