Maternal effects
- Plasticity in parental effects confers rapid larval thermal tolerance in the estuarine anemone Nematostella vectensis
Summary: Nematostella vectensis quickly responds to changes in temperature to modulate parental effects that influence thermal tolerance of larvae in a reversible (plastic) manner, which could be significant for survival under global climate change.
- Telomere dynamics from hatching to sexual maturity and maternal effects in the ‘multivariate egg’
Highlighted Article: Antagonistic effects of maternal antibodies and egg testosterone modulate offspring telomere length over growth in zebra finch fledglings.
- Testing different forms of regulation of yolk thyroid hormone transfer in pied flycatchers
Summary: Thyroid hormones have been overlooked in the context of hormone-mediated maternal effects; mothers may regulate yolk thyroid hormone by regulating the concentration of the active form of the hormone in the circulation.
- Both maternal and embryonic exposure to mild hypoxia influence embryonic development of the intertidal gastropod Littorina littorea
Summary: Maternal and embryonic exposure to mild hypoxia influence timings of developmental events, whereas aspects of embryo morphology and overall development time were influenced only by embryonic exposure to mild hypoxia.
- Parental transgenerational epigenetic inheritance related to dietary crude oil exposure in Danio rerio
Summary: Both maternal and paternal exposure experience to environmental stressors are essential for survivability of offspring facing similar environmental challenges.
- Characterizing the timing of yolk testosterone metabolism and the effects of etiocholanolone on development in avian eggs
Summary: Maternally derived steroids are metabolized during incubation. Here, we determine the timing of this embryonic metabolism for testosterone and assess early effects of metabolites on embryonic growth.
- Maternal glucocorticoids promote offspring growth without inducing oxidative stress or shortening telomeres in wild red squirrels
Summary: Experimental increases in glucocorticoids in breeding female North American red squirrels affects offspring postnatal growth but not levels of oxidative damage and antioxidants or telomere lengths.
- Are there synergistic or antagonistic effects of multiple maternally derived egg components on offspring phenotype?
Summary: Simultaneous, experimental manipulation of two maternally derived egg components (maternal antibodies and testosterone) provides little evidence for strong or long-term synergistic or antagonistic effects on offspring phenotype.
- Avian yolk androgens are metabolized rather than taken up by the embryo during the first days of incubation
Highlighted Article: Mass spectrometric analysis using stable isotope labelled androgens shows that maternal androgens in bird egg yolk are not taken up by the embryo during early incubation but rather are metabolized.