Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
2001-3-23
pubmed:abstractText
Cross-generational effects refer to nongenetic influences of the parental phenotype or environment on offspring phenotypes. Such effects are commonly observed, but their adaptive significance is largely unresolved. We examined cross-generational effects of parental temperature on offspring fitness (estimated via a serial-transfer assay) at different temperatures in a laboratory population of Drosophila melanogaster. Parents were reared at 18 degrees C, 25 degrees C, or 29 degrees C (Tpar) and then their offspring were reared at 18 degrees C, 25 degrees C, or 29 degrees C (Toff) to evaluate several competing hypotheses (including an adaptive one) involving interaction effects of parental and offspring temperature on offspring fitness. The results clearly show that hotter parents are better; in other words, the higher the temperature of the parents, the higher the fitness of their offspring, independent of offspring thermal environment. These data contradict the adaptive cross-generational hypothesis, which proposes that offspring fitness is maximal when the offspring thermal regime matches the parental one. Flies with hot parents have high fitness seemingly because their own offspring develop relatively quickly, not because they have higher fecundity early in life.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jan
pubmed:issn
0014-3820
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
55
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
209-14
pubmed:dateRevised
2009-11-19
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2001
pubmed:articleTitle
Parental and developmental temperature effects on the thermal dependence of fitness in Drosophila melanogaster.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Zoology, Clarkson University, Potsdam, New York 13699-5805, USA. gilchrgw@clarkson.edu
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.