Does paternal immunocompetence affect offspring vulnerability to maternal androgens? A study in domestic chickens.

ABSTRACT: Exposure of yolk androgens can positively stimulate chick growth and competitive ability, but may negatively affect immunity. It has been hypothesized that only chicks from immunologically superior fathers can bear the cost of prenatal exposure to high androgen levels. To test this hypothesis, we paired roosters from two selection lines, one up- and one down-selected for natural antibodies (NAbs), with hens from a control line. We measured yolk testosterone and androstenedione levels, and we injected the treatment group of eggs of each female with testosterone suspended in sesame oil and the control group with sesame oil only. We then measured hatching success and growth, and characterized the humoral and cellular immune responses using three different challenges: a phyto-hemagglutinin, a

SUBMITTER: Lelono A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6899007 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature