Terminal Reproductive Investment, Physiological Trade-offs and Pleiotropic Effects: Their effects produce complex immune/reproductive interactions in the cricket Gryllus texensis

1. Should females increase or decrease reproduction when attacked by pathogens? Two hypotheses provide opposite predictions. Terminal reproductive investment theory predicts an increase in reproduction, but hypothesized physiological trade-offs between reproduction and immune function might be expected to produce a decrease. There is evidence for both hypotheses. What determines the choice between the two responses remains unclear. We examine the effect of age on the reproductive response to immune challenge in long-wing females of the Texas field cricket, Gryllus texensis, when fed an ecologically valid (limited) diet. 2. The limited diet reduced reproductive output. However, immune challenge had no effect on their reproductive output either in young or middle-aged crickets, which is contrary to either prediction. 3. Flight muscle maintenance correlated negatively with reproductive output, suggesting a physiological trade-off between flight muscle maintenance and reproduction. Within the long-wing variant there was considerable variability in flight muscle maintenance. This variability may mask physiological trade-offs between immunity and reproduction. 4. Middle-aged crickets had higher total phenoloxidase (PO) activity in their hemolymph, compared to young females, which is contrary to the terminal investment theory. Given that PO is involved in both immunity and reproduction, the increased PO may reflect simultaneous investment in both functions. 5. We identified four proPO transcripts in a published RNA-seq dataset (transcriptome). Three of the proPO genes were expressed either in the fat body or the ovaries (supporting the hypothesis that PO is bifunctional); however, the two organs expressed different subsets. The possible bifunctionality of PO suggests that it may not be an appropriate immune measure for immune/reproductive trade-offs in some species. 6. Increasing age may not cue terminal reproductive investment prior to senescence.

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Immunity for nothing and the eggs for free: Apparent lack of both physiological trade-offs and terminal reproductive investment in female crickets (Gryllus texensis)

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0209957 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (5) ◽

pp. e0209957 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Atsushi Miyashita ◽

Ting Yat Marco Lee ◽

Laura E. McMillan ◽

Russell Easy ◽

Shelley A. Adamo

Keyword(s):

Reproductive Investment ◽

Apparent Lack ◽

Gryllus Texensis ◽

Trade Offs

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How male attractiveness mediates the effect of an immune challenge on reproductive traits and sickness behavior in the Texas Field Cricket (Gryllus texensis)

10.31274/etd-180810-3839 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Melissa Shari Corona Telemeco

Keyword(s):

Reproductive Traits ◽

Sickness Behavior ◽

Field Cricket ◽

Immune Challenge ◽

Gryllus Texensis ◽

Male Attractiveness

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Adult body growth and reproductive investment vary markedly within and across Atlantic and Pacific herring: a meta-analysis and review of 26 stocks

Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries ◽

10.1007/s11160-021-09665-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Thassya C. dos Santos Schmidt ◽

Doug E. Hay ◽

Svein Sundby ◽

Jennifer A. Devine ◽

Guðmundur J. Óskarsson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Egg Size ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Reproductive Investment ◽

Body Growth ◽

Clupea Harengus ◽

Pacific Herring ◽

Atlantic Herring ◽

Additional Information ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Investment In Reproduction

AbstractLife-history traits of Pacific (Clupea pallasii) and Atlantic (Clupea harengus) herring, comprising both local and oceanic stocks subdivided into summer-autumn and spring spawners, were extensively reviewed. The main parameters investigated were body growth, condition, and reproductive investment. Body size of Pacific herring increased with increasing latitude. This pattern was inconsistent for Atlantic herring. Pacific and local Norwegian herring showed comparable body conditions, whereas oceanic Atlantic herring generally appeared stouter. Among Atlantic herring, summer and autumn spawners produced many small eggs compared to spring spawners, which had fewer but larger eggs—findings agreeing with statements given several decades ago. The 26 herring stocks we analysed, when combined across distant waters, showed clear evidence of a trade-off between fecundity and egg size. The size-specific individual variation, often ignored, was substantial. Additional information on biometrics clarified that oceanic stocks were generally larger and had longer life spans than local herring stocks, probably related to their longer feeding migrations. Body condition was only weakly, positively related to assumingly in situ annual temperatures (0–30 m depth). Contrarily, body growth (cm × y−1), taken as an integrator of ambient environmental conditions, closely reflected the extent of investment in reproduction. Overall, Pacific and local Norwegian herring tended to cluster based on morphometric and reproductive features, whereas oceanic Atlantic herring clustered separately. Our work underlines that herring stocks are uniquely adapted to their habitats in terms of trade-offs between fecundity and egg size whereas reproductive investment mimics the productivity of the water in question.

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Tales of lizard tails: effects of tail autotomy on subsequent survival and growth of free-ranging hatchling Uta stansburiana

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z97-067 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 75 (4) ◽

pp. 542-548 ◽

Cited By ~ 46

Author(s):

P. H. Niewiarowski ◽

J. D. Congdon ◽

A. E. Dunham ◽

L. J. Vitt ◽

D. W. Tinkle

Keyword(s):

Natural Populations ◽

Reproductive Investment ◽

Experimental Manipulation ◽

Costs And Benefits ◽

Growth And Survival ◽

Large Sample ◽

Uta Stansburiana ◽

Tail Autotomy ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Free Ranging

Potential costs and benefits of tail autotomy in lizards have been inferred almost exclusively from experimental study in semi-natural enclosures and from indirect comparative evidence from natural populations. We present complementary evidence of the costs of tail autotomy to the lizard Uta stansburiana from detailed demographic study of a natural population. On initial capture, we broke the tails of a large sample of free-ranging hatchlings (560) and left the tails of another large sample (455) intact, and then followed subsequent hatchling growth and survival over a 3-year period. Surprisingly, in 1 out of the 3 years of study, survival of female hatchlings with broken tails exceeded that of female hatchlings with intact tails. Furthermore, no effects of tail loss on survivorship were detected for male hatchlings. However, in 2 years when recaptures were very frequent (1961, 1962), growth rates of hatchlings with broken tails were significantly slower than those of their counterparts with intact tails. We discuss our results in the broader context of estimating the relative costs and benefits of tail autotomy in natural populations, and suggest that long-term demographic studies will provide the best opportunity to assess realized fitness costs and benefits with minimum bias. We also describe how experimentally induced tail autotomy can be used as a technique to complement experimental manipulation of reproductive investment in the study of life-history trade-offs.

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TEMPORALLY FLUCTUATING SELECTION OF SEX-LIMITED SIGNALING TRAITS IN THE TEXAS FIELD CRICKET, GRYLLUS TEXENSIS

Evolution ◽

10.1554/0014-3820(2002)056[1831:tfsosl]2.0.co;2 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 56 (9) ◽

pp. 1831 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Susan M. Bertram

Keyword(s):

Field Cricket ◽

Fluctuating Selection ◽

Gryllus Texensis ◽

Selection Of

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Enzymatic antioxidants but not baseline glucocorticoids mediate the reproduction–survival trade-off in a wild bird

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2018.2141 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 285 (1892) ◽

pp. 20182141 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Stefania Casagrande ◽

Michaela Hau

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Body Condition ◽

Redox State ◽

Reproductive Investment ◽

Redox System ◽

Reactive Oxygen Metabolites ◽

Enzymatic Antioxidants ◽

Trade Off ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Nest Provisioning

The trade-off between reproductive investment and survival is central to life-history theory, but the relative importance and the complex interactions among the physiological mechanisms mediating it are still debated. Here we experimentally tested whether baseline glucocorticoid hormones, the redox system or their interaction mediate reproductive investment–survival trade-offs in wild great tits ( Parus major ). We increased the workload of parental males by clipping three feathers on each wing, and 5 days later determined effects on baseline corticosterone concentrations (Cort), redox state (reactive oxygen metabolites, protein carbonyls, glutathione peroxidase [GPx], total non-enzymatic antioxidants), body mass, body condition, reproductive success and survival. Feather-clipping did not affect fledgling numbers, chick body condition, nest provisioning rates or survival compared with controls. However, feather-clipped males lost mass and increased both Cort and GPx concentrations. Within feather-clipped individuals, GPx increases were positively associated with reproductive investment (i.e. male nest provisioning). Furthermore, within all individuals, males that increased GPx suffered reduced survival rates. Baseline Cort increases were related to mass loss but not to redox state, nest provisioning or male survival. Our findings provide experimental evidence that changes in the redox system are associated with the trade-off between reproductive investment and survival, while baseline Cort may support this trade-off indirectly through a link with body condition. These results also emphasize that plastic changes in individuals, rather than static levels of physiological signals, may mediate life-history trade-offs.

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Schedule and magnitude of reproductive investment under immune trade-offs explains sex differences in immunity

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-018-06793-y ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

C. Jessica E. Metcalf ◽

Andrea L. Graham

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Reproductive Investment ◽

Trade Offs

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Should I stay or should I go? Complex environments influence the developmental plasticity of flight capacity and flight-related trade-offs

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society ◽

10.1093/biolinnean/blz073 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 128 (1) ◽

pp. 59-69 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Jordan R Glass ◽

Zachary R Stahlschmidt

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Food Availability ◽

Life History Traits ◽

Developmental Plasticity ◽

Temperature Variability ◽

Field Cricket ◽

Valuable Insight ◽

Complex Environments ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Flight Capacity

Abstract Complex environments, characterized by co-varying factors (e.g. temperature and food availability) may cause animals to invest resources differentially into fitness-related traits. Thus, experiments manipulating multiple environmental factors concurrently provide valuable insight into the role of the environment in shaping not only important traits (e.g. dispersal capacity or reproduction), but also trait–trait interactions (e.g. trade-offs between traits). We used a multi-factorial design to manipulate variation in temperature (constant 28 °C vs. 28 ± 5 °C daily cycle) and food availability (unlimited vs. intermittent access) throughout development in the sand field cricket (Gryllus firmus). Using a univariate approach, we found that temperature variability and unlimited food availability promoted survival, development, growth, body size and/or reproductive investment. Using principal components as indices of resource allocation strategy, we found that temperature variability and unlimited food reduced investment into flight capacity in females. Thus, we detected a sex-specific trade-off between flight and other life-history traits that was developmentally plastic in response to variation in temperature and food availability. We develop an experimental and statistical framework to reveal shifts in correlative patterns of investment into different life-history traits. This approach can be applied to a range of biological systems to investigate how environmental complexity influences traits and trait trade-offs.

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The evolutionary convergence of avian lifestyles and their constrained coevolution with species' ecological niche

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2015.1808 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 282 (1821) ◽

pp. 20151808 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Paola Laiolo ◽

Javier Seoane ◽

Juan Carlos Illera ◽

Giulia Bastianelli ◽

Luis María Carrascal ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Histories ◽

Ecological Niche ◽

Optimal Allocation ◽

Reproductive Investment ◽

Cost Of Reproduction ◽

Phenotypic Evolution ◽

Realized Niche ◽

Trade Offs ◽

The Cost ◽

Species Variability

The fit between life histories and ecological niche is a paradigm of phenotypic evolution, also widely used to explain patterns of species co-occurrence. By analysing the lifestyles of a sympatric avian assemblage, we show that species' solutions to environmental problems are not unbound. We identify a life-history continuum structured on the cost of reproduction along a temperature gradient, as well as habitat-driven parental behaviour. However, environmental fit and trait convergence are limited by niche filling and by within-species variability of niche traits, which is greater than variability of life histories. Phylogeny, allometry and trade-offs are other important constraints: lifetime reproductive investment is tightly bound to body size, and the optimal allocation to reproduction for a given size is not established by niche characteristics but by trade-offs with survival. Life histories thus keep pace with habitat and climate, but under the limitations imposed by metabolism, trade-offs among traits and species' realized niche.

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