Environment-induced changes in reproductive strategies and their transgenerational effects in the three-spined stickleback.

ABSTRACT: An organism may increase its fitness by changing its reproductive strategies in response to environmental cues, but the possible consequences of those changes for the next generation have rarely been explored. By using an experiment on the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), we studied how changes in the onset of breeding photoperiod (early versus late) affect reproductive strategies of males and females, and life histories of their offspring. We also explored whether telomeres are involved in the within- and transgenerational effects. In response to the late onset of breeding photoperiod, females reduced their investment in the early clutches, but males increased their investment in sexual signals. Costs of increased reproductive investment in terms of telomere loss

SUBMITTER: Alvarez-Quintero N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7820166 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature