Transcriptomic changes associated with maternal care in the brain of mouthbrooding cichlid Astatotilapia burtoni reflect adaptation to self-induced metabolic stress.

ABSTRACT: Parental care in Astatotilapia burtoni entails females protecting eggs and developing fry in a specialized buccal cavity in the mouth. During this mouthbrooding behavior, which can last 2-3 weeks, mothers undergo voluntary fasting accompanied by loss of body mass and major metabolic changes. Following release of fry, females resume normal feeding behavior and quickly recover body mass as they become reproductively active once again. In order to investigate the molecular underpinnings of such dramatic behavioral and metabolic changes, we sequenced whole-brain transcriptomes from females at four time points throughout their reproductive cycle: 2 days after the start of mouthbrooding, 14 days after the start of mouthbrooding, 2 days after the release of fry and 14 days after the release of fr

SUBMITTER: Faber-Hammond JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10088530 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature