Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jan 28;10(4):2030-2039.
doi: 10.1002/ece3.6035. eCollection 2020 Feb.

Maternal predator-exposure affects offspring size at birth but not telomere length in a live-bearing fish

Stefano Monteforte  1 , Silvia Cattelan  1 , Chiara Morosinotto  1   2 , Andrea Pilastro  1 , Alessandro Grapputo  1
Affiliations

Maternal predator-exposure affects offspring size at birth but not telomere length in a live-bearing fish

Stefano Monteforte et al. Ecol Evol. .

Abstract

The perception of predation risk could affect prey phenotype both within and between generations (via parental effects). The response to predation risk could involve modifications in physiology, morphology, and behavior and can ultimately affect long-term fitness. Among the possible modifications mediated by the exposure to predation risk, telomere length could be a proxy for investigating the response to predation risk both within and between generations, as telomeres can be significantly affected by environmental stress. Maternal exposure to the perception of predation risk can affect a variety of offspring traits but the effect on offspring telomere length has never been experimentally tested. Using a live-bearing fish, the guppy (Poecilia reticulata), we tested if the perceived risk of predation could affect the telomere length of adult females directly and that of their offspring with a balanced experimental setup that allowed us to control for both maternal and paternal contribution. We exposed female guppies to the perception of predation risk during gestation using a combination of both visual and chemical cues and we then measured female telomere length after the exposure period. Maternal effects mediated by the exposure to predation risk were measured on offspring telomere length and body size at birth. Contrary to our predictions, we did not find a significant effect of predation-exposure neither on female nor on offspring telomere length, but females exposed to predation risk produced smaller offspring at birth. We discuss the possible explanations for our findings and advocate for further research on telomere dynamics in ectotherms.

Keywords: Poecilia reticulata; environmental stress; maternal effects; predation risk; telomere.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A bright‐colored male and a female guppy, Poecilia reticulata, descendants from a high predation site of the Tacarigua river (Trinidad). Credits: Clelia Gasparini
Figure 2
Figure 2
Body size of the offspring of the two experimental groups. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean observed values
Figure 3
Figure 3
Relative telomere length of females and offspring of control and predation groups. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean observed values
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Agrawal, A. A. , Laforsch, C. , & Tollrian, R. (1999). Transgenerational induction of defences in animals and plants. Nature, 401(6748), 60 10.1038/43425 - DOI
    1. Alcalay, Y. , Tsurim, I. , & Ovadia, O. (2018). Female mosquitoes disperse further when they develop under predation risk. Behavioral Ecology, 29(6), 1402–1408. 10.1093/beheco/ary113 - DOI
    1. Anchelin, M. , Murcia, L. , Alcaraz‐Pérez, F. , García‐Navarro, E. M. , & Cayuela, M. L. (2011). Behaviour of telomere and telomerase during aging and regeneration in zebrafish. PLoS ONE, 6(2), e16955 10.1371/journal.pone.0016955 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Angelier, F. , Costantini, D. , Blévin, P. , & Chastel, O. (2018). Do glucocorticoids mediate the link between environmental conditions and telomere dynamics in wild vertebrates? A review. General and Comparative Endocrinology, 256, 99–111. 10.1016/j.ygcen.2017.07.007 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Asghar, M. , Bensch, S. , Tarka, M. , Hansson, B. , & Hasselquist, D. (2015). Maternal and genetic factors determine early life telomere length. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 282(1799), 20142263 10.1098/rspb.2014.2263 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources