scholarly journals Biparental age effects in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilary Cope ◽  
Edward Ivimey-Cook ◽  
Jacob Moorad
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Age ◽  
Larval Survival ◽  
Age Effects ◽  
Paternal Age ◽  
Offspring Size ◽  
Laboratory Population ◽  
Parental Age ◽  
Burying Beetle ◽  
Negative Results ◽  
Nicrophorus Vespilloides

AbstractParental age at reproduction influences offspring size and survival by affecting prenatal and postnatal conditions in a wide variety of species, including humans. However, most investigations into this manifestation of ageing focus upon maternal age effects; the effects of paternal age and interactions between maternal and paternal age are often neglected. Furthermore, even when maternal age effects are studied, pre- and postnatal effects are confounded. Using a cross-fostered experimental design, we investigated the joint effects of paternal and pre- and postnatal maternal ages on numerous offspring outcomes in a laboratory population of a species of burying beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides. When we correct our tests for significance for multiple comparisons, we found no clear evidence for any parental effect senescence acting on egg size, larval weight, or larval survival. Nor did we find a statistical effect of paternal or egg producer age on the outcomes of foster mothers as measured by weight change experienced during caregiving. These findings are consistent with recent negative results reported in a similar study of N. vespilloides maternal age effects while also expanding these to other offspring traits and to paternal age effects. We discuss how the peculiar life history of this species may promote selection to resist the evolution of parental age effects, and how this might have influenced our ability to detect senescence.

Parental Age and Schizophrenia

1966 ◽  
Vol 112 (490) ◽  
pp. 899-905 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. L. Granville-Grossman
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Age ◽  
Age Effect ◽  
Age Effects ◽  
Paternal Age ◽  
Considerable Importance ◽  
Parental Age ◽  
Advanced Paternal Age ◽  
Older Parents ◽  
Maternal Age Effect ◽  
Environmental Causes

Reports that schizophrenics have older parents than non-schizophrenics (Barry, 1945; Goodman, 1957; Johanson, 1958; Gregory, 1959) are of considerable importance. If valid, they provide evidence for environmental causes of schizophrenia, and by analogy with other conditions where parental age effects have been noted may give some indication of the nature of these causes. There are, however, inconsistencies in these studies: thus Johanson and Gregory found a significant association between advanced paternal age and schizophrenia, but failed to confirm the maternal age effect noted by Barry and Goodman. These differences indicate the need for further investigation and this paper describes such a study.

Parental breeding age effects on descendants’ longevity interact over two generations in matrilines and patrilines

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zac Wylde ◽  
Foteini Spagopoulou ◽  
Amy K Hooper ◽  
Alexei A Maklakov ◽  
Russell Bonduriansky
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Age ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Age Effects ◽  
Population Variation ◽  
Paternal Age ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Competitive Environment ◽  
Larval Diet ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Two Generations

Individuals within populations vary enormously in mortality risk and longevity, but the causes of this variation remain poorly understood. A potentially important and phylogenetically widespread source of such variation is maternal age at breeding, which typically has negative effects on offspring longevity. Here, we show that paternal age can affect offspring longevity as strongly as maternal age does, and that breeding age effects can interact over two generations in both matrilines and patrilines. We manipulated maternal and paternal ages at breeding over two generations in the neriid fly Telostylinus angusticollis. To determine whether breeding age effects can be modulated by the environment, we also manipulated larval diet and male competitive environment in the first generation. We found separate and interactive effects of parental and grandparental ages at breeding on descendants’ mortality rate and lifespan in both matrilines and patrilines. These breeding age effects were not modulated by grandparental larval diet quality or competitive environment. Our findings suggest that variation in maternal and paternal ages at breeding could contribute substantially to intra-population variation in mortality and longevity.

scholarly journals Maternal effects alter the severity of inbreeding depression in the offspring

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1838) ◽  
pp. 20161023 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Pilakouta ◽  
Per T. Smiseth
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Effects ◽  
Inbreeding Depression ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Causal Effect ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Larval Survival ◽  
Burying Beetle ◽  
Nicrophorus Vespilloides ◽  
Selection For

A maternal effect is a causal influence of the maternal phenotype on the offspring phenotype over and above any direct effects of genes. There is abundant evidence that maternal effects can have a major impact on offspring fitness. Yet, no previous study has investigated the potential role of maternal effects in influencing the severity of inbreeding depression in the offspring. Inbreeding depression is a reduction in the fitness of inbred offspring relative to outbred offspring. Here, we tested whether maternal effects due to body size alter the magnitude of inbreeding depression in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides . We found that inbreeding depression in larval survival was more severe for offspring of large females than offspring of small females. This might be due to differences in how small and large females invest in an inbred brood because of their different prospects for future breeding opportunities. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence for a causal effect of the maternal phenotype on the severity of inbreeding depression in the offspring. In natural populations that are subject to inbreeding, maternal effects may drive variation in inbreeding depression and therefore contribute to variation in the strength and direction of selection for inbreeding avoidance.

The fisheries management implications of maternal-age-dependent larval survival

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (10) ◽  
pp. 2249-2258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael R O'Farrell ◽  
Louis W Botsford
Keyword(s):  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Maternal Age ◽  
Egg Production ◽  
Larval Mortality ◽  
Reproductive Potential ◽  
Larval Survival ◽  
Age Effects ◽  
Fishing Mortality ◽  
Black Rockfish

A common goal of conventional fisheries management is to maintain fishing mortality at a rate that ensures an adequate level of lifetime egg production (LEP) for population sustainability. However, larvae from young spawners can experience higher mortality rates than larvae of older spawners, reducing the effect of egg production by young females (hereafter, maternal age effects). This reduction leads to an error in LEP that can be accounted for by reducing the fishing mortality rate, but raises the question of the magnitude of these errors if they are present but not accounted for. Calculations using parameters from a typical long-lived fish demonstrated that maternal age effects resulted in large errors in estimates of lifetime reproduction when there was a large contrast in the larval mortality rate extending over the reproductive life span. Errors were small when maternal age effects reduced the reproductive potential of only the very youngest spawners, at ages when a small fraction of females are mature. A specific example using the empirically derived maternal age effect for black rockfish (Sebastes melanops) indicated that errors in traditional management would be small for this species.

Role of maternal and paternal age in an assisted reproductive program

2002 ◽  
Vol 55 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 535-538
Author(s):  
Dunja Tabs ◽  
Nebojsa Radunovic
Keyword(s):  
Assisted Reproduction ◽  
Ovarian Reserve ◽  
Maternal Age ◽  
Low Dose ◽  
Reproductive Age ◽  
Paternal Age ◽  
Parental Age ◽  
Younger Women ◽  
Poor Ovarian Reserve

Introduction Many infertile couples try to become parents spontaneously, neglecting the possibility to conceive artificially, so they seek medical help in their late reproductive age. Maternal age Major aspects of maternal age in regard to assisted reproduction consider oocytes, ovaries and endometrium. Also, some habits and maternal diseases associated with aging may have an impact on fertility (smoking, atherosclerosis, previous gynecological operations etc.). Even though estimating the ovarian reserve is the most objective test in assessing female fertility, it has a limited predictive value in younger women. A short protocol of ovulation induction showed best results in women with poor ovarian reserve, but recent studies recommend low-dose gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists in these cases. Paternal age With aging, sperm parameters become worse, which points to the neglected role of the father in assisted reproduction. Conclusion Thus, parental age plays an important role in assisted reproductive programs.

Parental Age Differences

1974 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
William H. James
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Neonatal Death ◽  
Maternal Age ◽  
Perinatal Death ◽  
Paternal Age ◽  
Age Difference ◽  
Parental Age ◽  
Biological Phenomena ◽  
Mother’S Age

SummaryData are presented on a representative sample of legitimate live-born first infants in England, Scotland and Wales. When they are categorized simultaneously by paternal age, maternal age and social class of the father, it is found that:(1) Mean parental age difference (father's age — mother's age) is higher in upper class births than in other births.(2) If a man is younger than his wife, he is probably more likely than otherwise to come from the lower social classes, though this conclusion becomes less secure as the age difference increases in this direction.(3) Mean parental age difference increases with paternal age and decreases with maternal age.(4) For a given paternal age, parental age difference increases with a decline in social class, and for a given maternal age, parental age difference increases with a rise in social class.(5) In general, young parents have smaller mean parental age differences than old parents.If such mating patterns are characteristic of white North Americans one would infer:(1) that the risks of neonatal death and stillbirth previously reported in association with aged paternity are the result of biological rather than sociological phenomena, and(2) that the risks of neonatal death and stillbirth previously reported in association with youthful paternity are the result of sociological rather than biological phenomena.In general, it seems that mean parental age difference is unlikely to be a fruitful clue to the aetiologies of pathological conditions unless there are simultaneous controls on the age of at least one parent and on social class.The question is raised whether age disparity between spouses is associated with childlessness as well as with perinatal death and congenital malformations.

scholarly journals Paternal but not maternal age influences early-life performance of offspring in a long-lived seabird

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1828) ◽  
pp. 20152318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rémi Fay ◽  
Christophe Barbraud ◽  
Karine Delord ◽  
Henri Weimerskirch
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Age ◽  
Paternal Age ◽  
Parental Age ◽  
Fitness Component ◽  
Offspring Performance ◽  
Offspring Quality ◽  
Delayed Effects ◽  
Offspring Fitness ◽  
Demographic Traits ◽  
Iteroparous Species

Variability in demographic traits between individuals within populations has profound implications for both evolutionary processes and population dynamics. Parental effects as a source of non-genetic inheritance are important processes to consider to understand the causes of individual variation. In iteroparous species, parental age is known to influence strongly reproductive success and offspring quality, but consequences on an offspring fitness component after independence are much less studied. Based on 37 years longitudinal monitoring of a long-lived seabird, the wandering albatross, we investigate delayed effects of parental age on offspring fitness components. We provide evidence that parental age influences offspring performance beyond the age of independence. By distinguishing maternal and paternal age effects, we demonstrate that paternal age, but not maternal age, impacts negatively post-fledging offspring performance.

scholarly journals Impact of Paternal Age at Conception on Human Health

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 146-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathieu Simard ◽  
Catherine Laprise ◽  
Simon L Girard
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Age ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Age Effect ◽  
Age Effects ◽  
Paternal Age ◽  
De Novo Mutations ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Offspring Health ◽  
Paternal Age Effect

Abstract BACKGROUND The effect of maternal age at conception on various aspects of offspring health is well documented and often discussed. We seldom hear about the paternal age effect on offspring health, although the link is now almost as solid as with maternal age. The causes behind this, however, are drastically different between males and females. CONTENT In this review article, we will first examine documented physiological changes linked to paternal age effect. We will start with all morphological aspects of the testis that have been shown to be altered with aging. We will then move on to all the parameters of spermatogenesis that are linked with paternal age at conception. The biggest part of this review will focus on genetic changes associated with paternal age effects. Several studies that have established a strong link between paternal age at conception and the rate of de novo mutations will be reviewed. We will next discuss paternal age effects associated with telomere length and try to better understand the seemingly contradictory results. Finally, severe diseases that affect brain functions and normal development have been associated with older paternal age at conception. In this context, we will discuss the cases of autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia, as well as several childhood cancers. SUMMARY In many Western civilizations, the age at which parents have their first child has increased substantially in recent decades. It is important to summarize major health issues associated with an increased paternal age at conception to better model public health systems.

scholarly journals Parental care buffers against effects of ambient temperature on offspring performance in an insect

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 1443-1450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Grew ◽  
Tom Ratz ◽  
Jon Richardson ◽  
Per T Smiseth
Keyword(s):  
Ambient Temperature ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Female Parent ◽  
Larval Survival ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Burying Beetle ◽  
Offspring Performance ◽  
Behavioral Mechanism ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Nicrophorus Vespilloides

AbstractUnderstanding how animals respond to and cope with variation in ambient temperature is an important priority. The reason for this is that ambient temperature is a key component of the physical environment that influences offspring performance in a wide range of ectotherms and endotherms. Here, we investigate whether posthatching parental care provides a behavioral mechanism for buffering against the effects of ambient temperature on offspring in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides. We used a 3 × 2 factorial design where we manipulated ambient temperature (15, 20, or 25 °C) and parental care (presence or absence of a female parent after hatching). We found that the effect of ambient temperature on offspring performance was conditional upon the presence or absence of a caring female. Fewer larvae survived in the absence than in the presence of a caring female at 15 °C while there was no difference in larval survival at 20 and 25 °C. Our results show that parental care buffers against some of the detrimental effects of variation in ambient temperature on offspring. We suggest that posthatching parental care may buffer against such effects by creating a more benign environment or by boosting offspring resilience toward stressors. Our results have important implications for our understanding of the evolution of parental care because they suggest that the evolution of parental care could allow species to expand their geographical range to colonize areas with harsher climatic conditions than they otherwise would tolerate.

scholarly journals Fitness effects and transmission of phoretic nematodes of the burying beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yin Wang ◽  
Daniel E. Rozen
Keyword(s):  
Brood Size ◽  
Larval Survival ◽  
List Type ◽  
Burying Beetle ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Fitness Effects ◽  
Nicrophorus Vespilloides ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Efficient Mechanisms

AbstractNicrophorus vespilloides is a cosmopolitan social beetle that rears its offspring on decomposing carrion. Wild beetles are frequently associated with two types of macrobial symbionts, mites and nematodes.Although these organisms are believed to be phoretic commensals that harmlessly use beetles as a means of transfer between carcasses, the role of these symbionts on N. vespilloides fitness is poorly understood. Here we show that nematodes have significant negative effects on beetle fitness across a range of worm densities and also quantify the density-dependent transmission of worms between mating individuals and from parents to offspring.Using field-caught beetles, we provide the first report of a new nematode symbiont in N. vespilloides, most closely related to Rhabditoides regina, and show that worm densities are highly variable across individuals isolated from nature but do not differ between males and females. Next, by inoculating mating females with increasing densities of nematodes, we show that worm infections significantly reduce brood size, larval survival and larval mass, and also eliminate the trade-off between brood size and larval mass. Finally, we show that nematodes are efficiently transmitted between mating individuals and from mothers to larvae, directly and indirectly via the carcass, and that worms persist through pupation.These results show that the phoretic nematode R. regina can be highly parasitic to burying beetles but can nevertheless persist because of efficient mechanisms of intersexual and intergenerational transmission.Phoretic species are exceptionally common and may cause significant harm to their hosts, even though they rely on these larger species for transmission to new resources. However, this harm may be inevitable and unavoidable if transmission of phoretic symbionts requires nematode proliferation. It will be important to determine the generality of our result for other phoretic associates of animals.

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