Article
Neurosciences
Stephanie Raymann, Sina M. Schalbetter, Ron Schaer, Alexandra C. Bernhardt, Flavia S. Mueller, Urs Meyer, Ulrike Weber-Stadlbauer
Summary: Prenatal immune activation can have transgenerational effects on brain and behavior, affecting cognitive functions and gene expression patterns across multiple generations. These effects are found to be transmitted through both maternal and paternal lineages and are accompanied by changes in maternal care behavior.
Article
Ecology
Christina Zakas, Matthew V. Rockman
Summary: The genetic architecture of early-life phenotypes in a species with dramatic variation in larval size and morphology was investigated using a four-generation experimental pedigree. It was found that larval anatomical structures are mainly controlled by the offspring genotype at a small number of large-effect loci, while larval size is influenced by both maternal and paternal genomes. Consequently, the overall phenotype of each larva is dependent on three separate genomes, highlighting the importance of interactions among them in response to selection on larval traits.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Wipada Woravatin, Mark Stoneking, Metawee Srikummool, Jatupol Kampuansai, Leonardo Arias, Wibhu Kutanan
Summary: This study investigates the population history and sex-specific aspects of South Asian (SA) ancestry in Mainland Southeast Asian (MSEA) populations using uniparental markers. The results show that SA prevalent mtDNA haplogroups were observed at frequencies of approximately 35-45% in the Southern Thai groups, and these two groups showed closer genetic relatedness to Austroasiatic speaking Mon than to any other group. The study highlights the additional value that uniparental markers can provide in genome-wide variation studies.
Article
Microbiology
Haizhou Gong, Taiping Wang, Min Wu, Qianran Chu, Hainan Lan, Wuying Lang, Lingyu Zhu, Yang Song, Yujie Zhou, Qiongyi Wen, Jing Yu, Baolin Wang, Xin Zheng
Summary: By intervening in the nutrition of hens, we found that it positively affects the immunity of hens, hatching rate, and the growth of offspring chicks. The study reveals that maternal immune advantages are transferred to the offspring through immune factors in egg whites and yolks, and the transfer of maternal microbes affects the embryonic gut development as well as the immune system of offspring.
Article
Ecology
Scott R. Goeppner, Danielle R. Kirsch, Katerina Ramos, Allison Wells, Barney Luttbeg
Summary: Individuals exposed to predation risk can produce offspring with altered phenotypes. Most research focuses on maternal effects or generalized parental effects, but our study examined both maternal and paternal effects and the interactions between them. We exposed snails to predator cues and created mating pairs with different parental treatments. Offspring size was affected by maternal exposure, but this effect was negated when the father was also exposed. Our findings demonstrate potential conflict between male and female parental effects and highlight the importance of studying the interactions between maternal and paternal effects.
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Yingying Lin, Zhiwei Chen, Qinfang Qian, Yanxia Wang, Xiaoyan Xiu, Ping Ou, Jiaoning Fang, Guobo Li
Summary: This study investigated whether paternal BMI before pregnancy is a risk factor for maternal-neonatal outcomes and long-term prognosis in offspring. The results showed that paternal overweight and obesity were associated with higher incidences of hypertensive disorder complicating pregnancy, cesarean delivery, excessive gestational weight gain, and macrosomia. Additionally, paternal obesity also increased the incidence of asthma, hand-foot-and-mouth disease, anemia, dental caries, and obesity in adolescents. Therefore, paternal obesity is a risk factor for adverse maternal-neonatal outcomes and poor long-term prognosis in adolescents.
FRONTIERS IN ENDOCRINOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Shahrbanoo Keshavarz Azizi Raftar, Sara Abdollahiyan, Masoumeh Azimirad, Abbas Yadegar, Farzam Vaziri, Arfa Moshiri, Seyed Davar Siadat, Mohammad Reza Zali
Summary: The study investigated the potential anti-fibrotic effects of heat-killed A. muciniphila MucT on HSC activation, demonstrating its significant modulation of fibrosis markers, particularly at a specific concentration.
PROBIOTICS AND ANTIMICROBIAL PROTEINS
(2021)
Article
Immunology
James E. Norton, Sushma Kommineni, Patricia Akrivoulis, Dario A. Gutierrez, Daria J. Hazuda, Gokul Swaminathan
Summary: Mounting evidence suggests the critical role of microbiome in training and maturation of host immune system, with microbiome perturbation correlated with sub-optimal host responses to vaccines and cancer immunotherapy. This study demonstrates the ability of primary human immune cells to stratify and differentiate different strains of commensal bacteria, using both in vitro and ex vivo culture systems. The findings suggest that these primary systems are robust and enable identification of commensal bacteria as potential modulators of host immunity.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Patrick Sharman, Andrew J. Young, Alastair J. Wilson
Summary: The study found significant effects of maternal and paternal age on the speed of thoroughbred racehorses' offspring, with maternal effects being more negative. These results could help optimize breeding decisions and contribute to the evidence that both maternal and paternal age affect offspring traits.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Mon-Chien Lee, Chin-Shan Ho, Yi-Ju Hsu, Chi-Chang Huang
Summary: Supplementation of probiotics like L-PS23 or HK-PS23 can aid in muscle recovery post-exercise, reduce markers of muscle damage and inflammation, and potentially slow the decline in testosterone concentrations.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Patrick Sharman, Andrew J. Young, Alastair J. Wilson
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the effects of parental age on offspring speed in thoroughbred racehorses. The results showed significant effects of both maternal and paternal age on offspring speed, indicating that both parents' ages play a role in determining the speed of their offspring. While maternal age effects were stronger, the existence and magnitude of paternal effects are particularly noteworthy considering the lack of paternal involvement in parental care in thoroughbred sires.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mona Bekkhus, Yunsung Lee, Sven Ove Samuelsen, Stella Tsotsi, Per Magnus
Summary: Prenatal maternal anxiety is associated with behavior problems in children at 1.5 and 5 years old, but sibling comparison analyses suggest that this association is more likely explained by genetic or shared family environment factors.
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Julia Dmitrieva, Emma V. V. Espel
Summary: This study examined the effects of parental warmth and hostility on various outcomes in the father-daughter and mother-daughter relationships. The results showed that perceived paternal warmth exacerbated the negative effects of father hostility on daughters' mental health and romantic relationships, while maternal warmth had a direct association with these outcomes. Daughters may model and internalize their relationship with their fathers, leading to both positive and negative outcomes.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Entomology
Kylie Zirbel Yanchula, Barry W. Alto
Summary: Parental (transgenerational) effects in mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti, differ based on the nutritional condition of mates, with maternal effects influencing egg production and lipid investment, and paternal effects impacting offspring lipid content. This study supports the differential allocation of resources hypothesis, showing how mate quality can directly influence reproductive allocation in response to nutritional deprivation.
JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
AlliGrace Story, Emily McClelland, Cliff McKinney
Summary: This study examined the interaction effects of media messages, maternal and paternal feedback on emerging adult body esteem, revealing negative effects. Particularly for women, media messages and parental feedback have significant impacts on body esteem.
CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Venkatesh Nagarajan-Radha, Ian Aitkenhead, David J. Clancy, Steven L. Chown, Damian K. Dowling
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2020)
Article
Biology
Thomas A. Keaney, Heidi W. S. Wong, Damian K. Dowling, Theresa M. Jones, Luke Holman
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2020)
Article
Biology
M. Nystrand, D. K. Dowling
Review
Ecology
Rebecca E. Koch, Katherine L. Buchanan, Stefania Casagrande, Ondi Crino, Damian K. Dowling, Geoffrey E. Hill, Wendy R. Hood, Matthew McKenzie, Mylene M. Mariette, Daniel W. A. Noble, Alexandra Pavlova, Frank Seebacher, Paul Sunnucks, Eve Udino, Craig R. White, Karine Salin, Antoine Stier
Summary: The critical role that energy turnover plays in understanding variation in performance and fitness among individuals has long been recognized by biologists. While whole-organism metabolic studies have provided key insights into ecological and evolutionary processes, constraints at subcellular levels, such as within mitochondria, can also optimize metabolism. This exploration of mitochondrial aerobic metabolism's influence on organismal performance highlights important areas for future research in understanding ecological and evolutionary processes.
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Arunas Radzvilavicius, Sean Layh, Matthew D. Hall, Damian K. Dowling, Iain G. Johnston
Summary: The interplay between nuclear and mitochondrial genes maintains mitochondrial haplotype diversity within populations, and selects for sex-independent segregation of mitochondrion-interacting genes and for paternal leakage. These effects of genetic linkage evolution can eliminate male-harming fitness effects of mtDNA mutational diversity.
JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Andrea Pozzi, Damian K. Dowling
Summary: The research examines the impact of pathogenic mitochondrial mutations on health and the mechanisms regulating the link between these mutations and their effects. The authors suggest that certain mitochondrial mutations may disrupt function of a set of mitochondrial-transcribed small RNAs, leading to disease by perturbing communication between mitochondria and nucleus.
Article
Biology
Shiqian Feng, Andrea Pozzi, Vaclav Stejskal, George Opit, Qianqian Yang, Renfu Shao, Damian K. Dowling, Zhihong Li
Summary: "Contrary to expectations, this study found that mt-genome fragmentation is not correlated with the increase in mt-genome rearrangements in a genus of booklice, Liposcelis. The researchers proposed that fragmentation of the mt-genome may be a consequence of recombination errors between mt-genome copies, which is linked to a heightened mutation rate in clades exhibiting mt-fragmentation. Furthermore, the study showed that species with fragmented mt-genomes diverge more rapidly, despite experiencing strong purifying selection."
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Andrea Pozzi, Damian K. Dowling
Summary: Mitochondrial sequence variants affect phenotypic function through interaction with the nuclear genome. This study reveals previously unknown interactions between nuclear and small mt-RNAs, which may play key roles in intergenomic communication.
GENOME BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Biology
Tom M. Allison, Arunas L. Radzvilavicius, Damian K. Dowling
Summary: Most eukaryotes exhibit uniparental inheritance of mitochondria, but paternal inheritance is becoming more common in certain cases. This paternal inheritance may be caused by a failure of female or zygotic autophagy machinery to recognize divergent mitochondrial DNA. Recent theory suggests that under adaptive selection, paternal inheritance may evolve in certain populations.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Topi K. Lehtonen, Venkatesh Nagarajan-Radha, Damian K. Dowling, Bob B. M. Wong
Summary: This study examines dyadic interactions in a colour-polymorphic cichlid fish and finds that smaller individuals engage in more aggressive interactions. Interestingly, the interactions do not significantly differ between different colour morphs. Furthermore, automated data collection proves to be an accurate tool for measuring aggression.
BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Tara-Lyn Camilleri-Carter, Matthew D. W. Piper, Rebecca L. Robker, Damian K. Dowling
Summary: Intergenerational effects of parental nutrition on offspring phenotypes occur, but the interactions between parental diets and their impacts on offspring life history and physiology are not well understood. Studying fruit flies, we found complex non-cumulative interactions between matched and mismatched parental sucrose diets, which affected lifespan, fecundity, body mass, and triglyceride levels in parents and offspring.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Rebecca E. Koch, Damian K. Dowling
Summary: This study found that mitochondrial genotype has a significant effect on pre-copulatory mating success in male fruit flies. Specifically, one particular haplotype resulted in poorer performance. These findings suggest that mutations in mitochondrial DNA can affect pre-copulatory behaviors and their signaling.
JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Sean Layh, Venkatesh Nagarajan-Radha, Bernardo Lemos, Damian K. Dowling
Summary: Although traditionally believed to have little impact on sexually dimorphic traits, the Y chromosome has been shown to harbor variation affecting male fitness and influencing the expression of hundreds of genes. Studies have also revealed that this Y-linked variation may be influenced by environmental factors, suggesting that gene-by-environment interactions shape sexually dimorphic phenotypes. Our research on fruit flies demonstrates the effects of Y chromosome haplotypes on male locomotor activity, supporting the role of the Y chromosome in sexual conflict outcomes.
Article
Biology
Jack A. Brand, Winston K. W. Yee, Ian J. Aitkenhead, Jake M. Martin, Giovanni Polverino, Steven L. Chown, Bob B. M. Wong, Damian K. Dowling
Summary: Temperature is a crucial factor that affects organismal fitness and has significant ecological implications. The influence of temperature on behavioral variation among individuals and between sexes in ectotherms is still not well understood. This study investigates the effects of temperature on behavioral variation and metabolism in adult male and female Drosophila melanogaster. The results show that males are more responsive to temperature change in mean activity levels, but no sex differences were found in thermal metabolic plasticity. Higher temperatures increased variation in male locomotor activity, but not in females. Further research is needed to explore whether sex differences in behavioral variation in response to temperature change may lead to sex-specific vulnerabilities to a warming climate.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Jake M. Martin, Venkatesh Nagarajan-Radha, Hung Tan, Michael G. Bertram, Jack A. Brand, Minna Saaristo, Damian K. Dowling, Bob B. M. Wong
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS LETTERS
(2020)