Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
Proc Biol Sci. 2011 Jun 7;278(1712):1753-9. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2010.1819. Epub 2010 Nov 10.
There is growing evidence that maternal experience influences offspring via non-genetic mechanisms. When female three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) were exposed to the threat of predation, they produced larger eggs with higher cortisol content, which consumed more oxygen shortly after fertilization compared with a control group. As juveniles, the offspring of predator-exposed mothers exhibited tighter shoaling behaviour, an antipredator defence. We did not detect an effect of maternal exposure to predation risk on the somatic growth of fry. Altogether, we found that exposure to an ecologically relevant stressor during egg formation had several long-lasting consequences for offspring, some of which might be mediated by exposure to maternally derived cortisol. These results support the hypothesis that female sticklebacks might influence the development, growth and behaviour of their offspring via eggs to match their future environment.
越来越多的证据表明，母体经验通过非遗传机制影响后代。当三刺鱼（Gasterosteus aculeatus）的雌性个体暴露于捕食者的威胁下时，它们会产下具有更高皮质醇含量的更大卵子，与对照组相比，这些卵子在受精后不久就会消耗更多的氧气。作为幼鱼，经历过捕食者威胁的母亲的后代表现出更紧密的聚群行为，这是一种防御捕食者的行为。我们没有发现母体暴露于捕食风险对鱼苗的体生长的影响。总的来说，我们发现卵形成过程中暴露于生态相关的应激源对后代有几个持久的影响，其中一些可能是通过母体衍生的皮质醇暴露来介导的。这些结果支持了这样一种假设，即三刺鱼的雌性个体可能通过卵子来影响其后代的发育、生长和行为，以适应它们未来的环境。
