Transgenerational effects of nutrition are different for sons and daughters

Food shortage is an important selective factor shaping animal life-history trajectories. Yet, despite its role, many aspects of the interaction between parental and offspring food environments remain unclear. In this study, we measured developmental plasticity in response to food availability over two generations and tested the relative contribution of paternal and maternal food availability to the performance of offspring reared under matched and mismatched food environments. We applied a cross-generational split-brood design using the springtail Orchesella cincta, which is found in the litter layer of temperate forests. The results show adverse effects of food limitation on several life-history traits and reproductive performance of both parental sexes. Food conditions of both parents contributed to the offspring phenotypic variation, providing evidence for transgenerational effects of diet. Parental diet influenced sons’ age at maturity and daughters’ weight at maturity. Specifically...

食物短缺是塑造动物生活史轨迹的关键选择因子。尽管其作用举足轻重，但亲本与子代食物环境间互作的诸多环节仍有待阐明。本研究针对两代个体的食物可获得性响应开展发育可塑性测定，检验了父本与母本的食物供给状况对在匹配与非匹配食物环境中饲养的子代生存表现的相对贡献。本研究以栖息于温带森林枯落层的长角跳虫（Orchesella cincta）为实验对象，采用跨代分幼体实验设计（split-brood design）。实验结果表明，食物限制对亲本两性的多项生活史性状及繁殖表现均存在不利影响。双亲的食物环境均可影响子代的表型变异，为膳食的跨代效应提供了直接证据。亲本的饮食状况会影响子代雄性的成熟年龄与雌性的成熟体重。具体而言……