Both maternal and embryonic exposure to mild hypoxia influence embryonic development of the intertidal gastropod Littorina littorea

ABSTRACTThere is growing evidence that maternal exposure to environmental stressors can alter offspring phenotype and increase fitness. Here, we investigate the relative and combined effects of maternal and developmental exposure to mild hypoxia (65 and 74% air saturation, respectively) on the growth and development of embryos of the marine gastropod Littorina littorea. Differences in embryo morphological traits were driven by the developmental environment, whereas the maternal environment and interactive effects of maternal and developmental environment were the main driver of differences in the timing of developmental events. While developmental exposure to mild hypoxia significantly increased the area of an important respiratory organ, the velum, it significantly delayed hatching of veliger larvae and reduced their size at hatching and overall survival. Maternal exposure had a significant effect on these traits, and interacted with developmental exposure to influence the time of appearance of morphological characters, suggesting that both are important in affecting developmental trajectories. A comparison between embryos that successfully hatched and those that died in mild hypoxia revealed that survivors exhibited hypertrophy in the velum and associated pre-oral cilia, suggesting that these traits are linked with survival in low-oxygen environments. We conclude that both maternal and developmental environments shape offspring phenotype in a species with a complex developmental life history, and that plasticity in embryo morphology arising from exposure to even small reductions in oxygen tensions affects the hatching success of these embryos.

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Neuroendocrine and behavioral effects of maternal exposure to oral bisphenol A in female mice

Journal of Endocrinology ◽

10.1530/joe-13-0607 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 220 (3) ◽

pp. 375-388 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Lydie Naulé ◽

Marie Picot ◽

Mariangela Martini ◽

Caroline Parmentier ◽

Hélène Hardin-Pouzet ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Body Weight ◽

Sexual Behavior ◽

Bisphenol A ◽

Preoptic Area ◽

Third Ventricle ◽

Daily Intake ◽

Maternal Exposure ◽

Developmental Exposure ◽

Female Mice ◽

Reference Doses

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a widespread estrogenic compound. We investigated the effects of maternal exposure to BPA at reference doses on sexual behavior and neuroendocrine functions of female offspring in C57BL/6J mice. The dams were orally exposed to vehicle alone or vehicle-containing BPA at doses equivalent to the no observed adverse effect level (5 mg/kg body weight per day) and tolerable daily intake (TDI, 0.05 mg/kg body weight per day) level from gestational day 15 until weaning. Developmental exposure to BPA increased the lordosis quotient in naive females exposed to BPA at the TDI dose only. BPA exposure had no effect on olfactory preference, ability to express masculine behaviors or number of calbindin-positive cells, a sexually dimorphic population of the preoptic area. BPA at both doses selectively increased kisspeptin cell number in the preoptic periventricular nucleus of the rostral periventricular area of the third ventricle in adult females. It did not affect the number of GNRH-positive cells or percentage of kisspeptin appositions on GNRH neurons in the preoptic area. These changes were associated with higher levels of estradiol (E2) at the TDI dose while levels of LH, estrus cyclicity, ovarian and uterine weights, and fertility remained unaffected. Delay in the time of vaginal opening was observed during the postnatal period at TDI dose, without any alteration in body growth. This shows that developmental exposure to BPA at reference doses did not masculinize and defeminize the neural circuitry underlying sexual behavior in female mice. The TDI dose specifically exacerbated responses normally induced by ovarian E2, through estrogen receptor α, during the postnatal/prepubertal period.

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Evaluation of the quality of embryo based on morphology cultured at low oxygen concentration

Ministry of Science and Technology, Vietnam ◽

10.31276/vjst.63(9).22-25 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 63 (9) ◽

pp. 22-25

Author(s):

Linh Chi Nguyen ◽

◽

Thi Tuong Chau Ngo ◽

Dinh Tao Nguyen ◽

Ngoc Diep Nguyen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Oxygen Concentration ◽

Atmospheric Oxygen ◽

Poor Quality ◽

Embryo Morphology ◽

Low Oxygen ◽

Average Quality ◽

Fertilisation Rate ◽

Group 2 ◽

Low Oxygen Concentration

Objectives: evaluating the quality of embryo morphology cultured at low oxygen concentration (5%) at different stages of embryonic development: day 3, day 5. Methods: the present study examined 168 IVF/ICSI cycles from October 2019 to February 2021 at the Assisted Reproductive Center, 16A Ha Dong General Hospital. Embryos were randomly assigned to 2 groups: group 1 used a K-system G-210 tri-gas incubator (Australia) (5% O2, 5% CO2, 90% N2) while group 2 used a Thermo Scientific 371 dual-gas incubator (Denmark) (5% CO2, 75% N2 with 20% atmospheric Oxygen concentration). Participants in the study were patients younger than 37 years old, with AMH>1.2 ng/ml, and AFC≥4. Mature oocytes were injected with sperm, and cultured in a sequential medium (G1,G2-PLUSTM). Embryologists assessed embryos on the day of fertilisation, days 3, 5, and compared the results of the two groups, using the method of descriptive statistics and T-test. The results revealed an insignificant difference in fertilisation rate and the quality of cleavages cultured in these 2 groups (percentages of good- and average quality cleavages were, in turn, 77.28±4.62% và 77.99±5.03%, at p>0.05, number of poor quality cleavages were, in turn, 1.71±0.38 vs 1.97±0.49 with p>0.05). The results on day 5 embryo showed that the percentage of blastocysts (from fertilisation) and the percentage of morphologically good- and average-quality blastocysts tended to increase higher when cultured in 5% oxygen concentration (p<0.05) compared with the 20% one (57.79±3.60% and 53.05±4.50%, 78.62±4.42% and 70.97±5.67%, respectively). Conclusions: embryo cultured in a low oxygen concentration helps embryos develop better on day 5 than when cultured at atmospheric concentrations

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Placobdelloides sirikanchanae sp. nov., a new species of glossiphoniid leech and a parasite of turtles from lower southern Thailand (Hirudinea, Rhynchobdellida)

ZooKeys ◽

10.3897/zookeys.882.35229 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 882 ◽

pp. 1-24 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Poramad Trivalairat ◽

Krittiya Chiangkul ◽

Watchariya Purivirojkul

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Habitat Preferences ◽

Morphological Characters ◽

Low Oxygen ◽

Median Line ◽

Male And Female ◽

Rubber Plantations ◽

Southern Thailand ◽

Oxygen Conditions ◽

A New Species

Abstract A new species of glossiphoniid leech, Placobdelloides sirikanchanaesp. nov., is reported in the Asian leaf turtle (Cyclemys dentata) and the dark-bellied leaf turtle (C. enigmatica) from Songkhla Province, southern Thailand. The examination of morphological characters revealed that this new species is similar to P. siamensis (Oka, 1917), a common turtle leech species found in Thailand. Placobdelloides sirikanchanaesp. nov. demonstrates distinct morphological characters, with an elongated, narrow body, 13–17 well-developed knob papillae on each annulus, dark brown to greenish dorsal color with a crimson median line, the absence of a scarlet dot, different male and female gonopore distributions, a rough posterior sucker with a random pit distribution, and 104–115 eggs per clutch. The phylogenetic relationships of COI-ND1 genes were clarified and shown to be distinct from those of P. siamensis. Additionally, habitat preferences tended toward low oxygen conditions such as puddles or water patches on rubber plantations.

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Geographic Variations on Methodological Themes in Comparative Ethology: A Natricine Snake Perspective

Geographic Variation in Behavior ◽

10.1093/oso/9780195082951.003.0008 ◽

1999 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Gordon M. Burghardt ◽

James M. Schwartz

Keyword(s):

Neural Development ◽

Developmental Trajectories ◽

Morphological Characters ◽

Behavior Patterns ◽

Behavioral Differences ◽

Geographic Variations ◽

Behavioral Phenotypes ◽

Complex Species ◽

Evolutionary Changes ◽

Genes And Environment

The most distinctive and characteristic emphasis of early ethology was also what set it off from other post-Darwinian studies of animal behavior. This was the view that behavior varied among species in the same way as did morphological characters and that behavioral differences were as much a product of the evolutionary drama as were the characters that could be measured in museum collections (Tinbergen 1960, Lorenz 1981, Burghardt 1985, Burghardt and Gittleman 1990, Gittleman and Decker 1994). The logical extensions of this view were that behavioral phenotypes could be used in reconstructing phylogenetic histories, that the evolution of behavioral phenotypes could be studied in the same way as the evolution of other classes of traits, and that many of the behavioral differences among taxa reflected underlying genetic differentiation at both the species (Hinde and Tinbergen 1958) and population (Foster and Cameron 1996) levels. Behavior may also initiate evolutionary changes in other attributes of organisms (Mayr 1960, 1965, Wcislo 1989, Gittleman et al. 1996). Although the role of genes in behavioral determination remained controversial for years (see Gottlieb 1992, de Queiroz and Wimberger 1993 for current critiques), many behavior patterns have proven heritable (Mousseau and Roff 1987; papers in Boake 1994b). Indeed, some complex, “species-typical” behavior patterns are performed normally without opportunity for learning (Lorenz 1965). Such behavior patterns can be expressed early or late in development (Lorenz, 1981). At the other extreme, many complex behavioral phenotypes are learned with only slight, if any, genetically based predisposition to perform particular behavior patterns. Between these extremes is a diversity of interactions between genes and environment, including imprinting and complex developmental trajectories produced by interactions between neural development and experience. Many of the currently interesting and controversial questions in the nature–nurture debate do not center around species-typical behavior patterns. Instead, they concern the nature of genetic differences among individuals and populations in the performance of particular behavior patterns and in the ability to modify their performance with experience. Thus the problem must be conceptualized as one in which the interactions of specific genetic constitutions with specific environmental contexts need to be evaluated.

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Reduced growth in Baltic Sea cod may be due to mild hypoxia

ICES Journal of Marine Science ◽

10.1093/icesjms/fsaa041 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 77 (5) ◽

pp. 2003-2005 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Keith Brander

Keyword(s):

Baltic Sea ◽

Food Consumption ◽

Alternative Explanation ◽

Metabolic Response ◽

Low Oxygen ◽

Hypoxic Conditions ◽

Daily Food ◽

Lower Production ◽

Benthic Prey ◽

Mild Hypoxia

Abstract Daily food consumption by small Baltic Sea cod has declined in recent decades, resulting in reduced growth and biomass. Declining oxygen may cause lower production of benthic prey for small cod, but an alternative explanation presented here is that the mildly hypoxic conditions that small cod experience reduces their rate of digestion and hence food consumption. Better information about the distribution and behaviour of small cod and their metabolic response to low oxygen levels is required.

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Phenotypically Induced Intraspecific Variation in the Morphological Development of Wetland and Stream Galaxias gollumoides McDowall and Chadderton

Diversity ◽

10.3390/d12060220 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (6) ◽

pp. 220

Author(s):

Nicholas R. Dunn ◽

Leanne K. O’Brien ◽

Gerard P. Closs

Keyword(s):

Developmental Trajectories ◽

Morphological Characters ◽

Current Treatment ◽

First Year ◽

Transplant Experiment ◽

Morphological Development ◽

Morphological Divergence ◽

Reciprocal Transplant Experiment ◽

Taxonomic Description ◽

Head Morphology

The hypothesis that contrasting hydrology induces divergent intraspecific phenotypic plastic responses in non-migratory freshwater fish was investigated. Morphologies of wetland and stream Galaxias gollumoides from South Island, New Zealand, at different stages of ontogeny, were examined. Phenotypic responses were tested for in a 2 × 2 factorial laboratory based controlled reciprocal transplant experiment with flow (current or no current) and source habitat (wetland or stream), as treatments. There was a shift in the overall head morphology of wetland current treatment G. gollumoides away from the wetland no current treatment, and toward the stream current treatment, demonstrating convergence in head morphology in the presence of flow of wetland and stream sourced captive G. gollumoides. Morphologies of captive reared G. gollumoides were also compared to developmental trajectories of morphological characters during the ontogeny of field reared first year, and adult conspecifics. In combination, experimental and field results support the hypothesis, finding habitat hydrology to be the potential mechanism inducing and maintaining intraspecific morphological divergence in G. gollumoides. Recognition of this mechanism inducing morphological divergence between populations also aids the taxonomic description of long genetically recognised lineages of co-members of the Galaxias vulgaris species complex.

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The roles of perspective and language in children's ability to delay gratification

10.26686/wgtn.12444302.v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

CEV Mahy ◽

Louis Moses ◽

B O'Brien ◽

AW Castro ◽

L Kopp ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Developmental Trajectories ◽

Self Regulation ◽

Psychological Distance ◽

Delay Of Gratification ◽

Interactive Effects ◽

Older Children ◽

Self And Other ◽

Auxiliary Verbs ◽

Optimal Decisions ◽

Age Related

© 2019 Elsevier Inc. Increasing psychological distance is an established method for improving children's performance in a number of self-regulation tasks. For example, using a delay of gratification (DoG) task, Prencipe and Zelazo (Psychological Science, 2005, Vol. 16, pp. 501–505) showed that 3-year-olds delay more for “other” than they do for “self,” whereas 4-year-olds make similar choices for self and other. However, to our knowledge, no work has manipulated language to increase psychological distance in children. In two experiments, we sought to manipulate psychological distance by replicating Prencipe and Zelazo's age-related findings and extending them to older children (Experiment 1) and also sought to manipulate psychological distance using the auxiliary verbs “want” and “should” to prime more impulsive preference-based decisions or more normative optimal decisions (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, 96 3- to 7-year-olds showed age-related improvements and interactive effects between age and perspective on DoG performance. In Experiment 2, 132 3- to 7-year-olds showed age-related improvements and a marginal interaction between age and perspective on DoG performance, but no effect of auxiliary verbs was detected. Results are discussed in terms of differing developmental trajectories of DoG for self and other due to psychological distancing, and how taking another's perspective may boost DoG in younger children but not older children.

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Comparative descriptions of the pupae of five species of the Culicoides imicola complex (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae) from South Africa

Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research ◽

10.4102/ojvr.v74i2.130 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 74 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Hilda Nevill ◽

G.J. Venter ◽

R. Meiswinkel ◽

E.M. Nevill

Keyword(s):

Sibling Species ◽

Morphological Characters ◽

Larval Habitat ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Large Herbivore ◽

Respiratory Organ ◽

Biting Midges ◽

Culicoides Imicola ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Buffalo Dung

The viruses causing the economically important livestock diseases of African horse sickness (AHS) and bluetongue (BT) are transmitted by biting midges of the genus Culicoides (Diptera, Cerato po gonidae). In the Old World the most important vectors of these diseases are Culicoides imicola Kieffer, 1913, Culicoides brevitarsis Kieffer, 1917 and Culicoides bolitinos Meiswinkel, 1989. All three of these vectors belong to the Imicola complex of the subgenus Avaritia Fox, 1955. This species complex now comprises 12 sibling species; ten occur in sub-Saharan Africa and are difficult to identify (based mostly on subtle variations in the wing patterns) and so additional methods of reliable identification are needed. The pupal exuviae of the five commonest sibling species (C. imicola, C. bolitinos, Culicoides loxodontis Meiswinkel, 1992, Culicoides tuttifrutti Meiswinkel, Cornet & Dyce, 2003 and Culicoides sp. # 107) harvested from a variety of large herbivore dung types and from decaying fruits, are described and illustrated in detail. It is shown that they can be differentiated clearly on a number of morphological characters and, furthermore, are separable into two distinct groups based (principally) on the shape of the respiratory organ. A key for identifying and differentiating these five pupae is provided. Also, the pupa of the Oriental-Australasian C. brevitarsis was compared with its allopatric sister taxon, C. bolitinos. Because they share a common larval habitat (cattle and buffalo dung) and are almost inseparable in the adult phenotype, the question of their possible synonymy is raised. However, their respective pupae could not be differentiated on gross morphology and so it is argued that this unresolved problem requires a molecular solution.

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