Experimental parasite infection reveals costs and benefits of paternal effects.

ABSTRACT: Forces shaping an individual's phenotype are complex and include transgenerational effects. Despite low investment into reproduction, a father's environment and phenotype can shape its offspring's phenotype. Whether and when such paternal effects are adaptive, however, remains elusive. Using three-spined sticklebacks in controlled infection experiments, we show that sperm deficiencies in exposed males compared to their unexposed brothers functionally translated into reduced reproductive success in sperm competition trials. In non-competitive fertilisations, offspring of exposed males suffered significant costs of reduced hatching success and survival but they reached a higher body condition than their counterparts from unexposed fathers after experimental infection. Interestingly, those be

SUBMITTER: Kaufmann J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4282062 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature