Projects per year
Abstract
An interesting aspect of developmental programming is the existence of transgenerational effects that influence offspring characteristics and performance later in life. These transgenerational effects have been hypothesized to allow individuals to cope better with predictable environmental fluctuations and thus facilitate adaptation to changing environments. Here, we test for the first time how early-life stress drives developmental programming and transgenerational effects of maternal exposure to early-life stress on several phenotypic traits in their offspring in a functionally relevant context using a fully factorial design. We manipulated pre- and/or post-natal stress in both Japanese quail mothers and offspring and examined the consequences for several stress-related traits in the offspring generation. We show that pre-natal stress experienced by the mother did not simply affect offspring phenotype but resulted in the inheritance of the same stress-coping traits in the offspring across all phenotypic levels that we investigated, shaping neuroendocrine, physiological and behavioural traits. This may serve mothers to better prepare their offspring to cope with later environments where the same stressors are experienced.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 46125 |
Number of pages | 19 |
Journal | Scientific Reports |
Volume | 7 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 7 Apr 2017 |
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Dive into the research topics of 'Transgenerational transmission of a stress-coping phenotype programmed by early-life stress in the Japanese quail'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 2 Finished
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Cognitive decline during ageing: Congnitive decline during ageing: understanding the roles of development and adult stress
Healy, S. (PI)
1/01/14 → 31/12/16
Project: Standard
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Karen Spencer: Congnitive decline during ageing: understanding the roles of development and adult stress
Spencer, K. A. (PI)
1/01/14 → 31/03/17
Project: Standard
Profiles
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Karen Anne Spencer
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience - Director of Research, Professor
- Institute of Behavioural and Neural Sciences
- Coastal Resources Management Group
Person: Academic
Datasets
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Transgenerational transmission of a stress-coping phenotype programmed by early-life stress in the Japanese quail (dataset)
Zimmer, C. G. G. (Creator), Larriva Hormigos, M. (Creator), Boogert, N. J. (Creator) & Spencer, K. A. (Creator), University of St Andrews, 2017
DOI: 10.17630/ddc7f54c-dd14-414b-9be1-226efc75cc97
Dataset
File