Temperature during embryonic development has persistent effects on thermal acclimation capacity in zebrafish.

ABSTRACT: Global warming is intensifying interest in the mechanisms enabling ectothermic animals to adjust physiological performance and cope with temperature change. Here we show that embryonic temperature can have dramatic and persistent effects on thermal acclimation capacity at multiple levels of biological organization. Zebrafish embryos were incubated until hatching at control temperature (T(E) = 27 °C) or near the extremes for normal development (T(E) = 22 °C or 32 °C) and were then raised to adulthood under common conditions at 27 °C. Short-term temperature challenge affected aerobic exercise performance (U(crit)), but each T(E) group had reduced thermal sensitivity at its respective T(E). In contrast, unexpected differences arose after long-term acclimation to 16 °C, when performance in the

SUBMITTER: Scott GR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3435178 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature