developmental plasticity
- Reproductive fitness of Drosophila is maximised by optimal developmental temperature
Summary: Developmental acclimation does not necessarily enhance reproductive fitness in Drosophila melanogaster; instead, the highest fitness is achieved by development at an optimal temperature.
- Developmental phenotypic plasticity helps bridge stochastic weather events associated with climate change
Summary: Unpredictable environmental phenomena associated with climate change can be challenging to developing organisms, but developmental phenotypic plasticity may be key to their survival.
- Metabolome dynamics of diapause in the butterfly Pieris napi: distinguishing maintenance, termination and post-diapause phases
Highlighted Article: Diapause in a temperate butterfly is associated with a highly dynamic metabolome, and its termination, once initiated by cold, is associated with temperature-independent changes in profiles of several key metabolites.
- Hotter nests produce hatchling lizards with lower thermal tolerance
Highlighted Article: Gecko embryos that experience high temperatures during incubation produce hatchlings with lower thermal tolerance, suggesting that lizards may have limited capacity to adapt to higher nest temperatures.
- Maternal basking regime has complex implications for birthdate and offspring phenotype in a nocturnally foraging, viviparous gecko
Summary: Basking opportunity strongly affects maternal thermoregulation and gestation length in a ‘nocturnal’ gecko; spontaneously born offspring from a cool regime are small, but consistent phenotypic effects from delayed parturition are lacking.
- Fish embryos on land: terrestrial embryo deposition lowers oxygen uptake without altering growth or survival in the amphibious fish Kryptolebias marmoratus
Highlighted Article: Terrestrially reared embryos from the amphibious fish Kryptolebias marmoratus consume less oxygen and reach hatching competency with larger yolk reserves relative to embryos reared in water.
- Diverse dose–response effects of yolk androgens on embryo development and nestling growth in a wild passerine
Summary: Yolk androgens in wild passerines show complex dose–response effects during early development, including both linear and non-linear responses for different traits.
- Predatory feeding behaviour in Pristionchus nematodes is dependent on phenotypic plasticity and induced by serotonin
Summary: Nematode predatory feeding as studied in Pristionchus pacificus acts through serotonin and is dependent on developmental plasticity that controls a mouth-form dimorphism.