Effect of maternal infection on progeny growth and resistance mediated by maternal genotype and nutrient availability

1. Maternal effects of pathogen infection on progeny development and disease resistance may be adaptive and have important consequences for population dynamics. However, these effects are often context-dependent and examples of adaptive transgenerational responses from perennials are scarce, although they may be a particularly important mechanism generating variation in the offspring of long-lived species. 2. Here, we studied the effect of maternal infection of Plantago lanceolata by Podosphaera plantaginis, a fungal parasite, on the growth, flower production and resistance of the progeny of six maternal genotypes in nutrient-rich and nutrient-poor environments. For this purpose, we combined a common garden study with automated phenotyping measurements of early life stages, and an inoculation experiment. 3. Our results show that the effects of infection on the mother plants transcend to impact their progeny. Although maternal infection decreased total leaf and flower production of the progeny by the end of the growing season, it accelerated early growth and enhanced resistance to the pathogen P. plantaginis. 4. We also discovered that the effects of maternal infection affected progeny development and resistance through a three way-interaction between maternal genotype, maternal infection status and nutrient availability. 5. Synthesis. Our results emphasize the importance of maternal effects mediated through genotypic and environmental factors in long-living perennials and suggest that maternal infection can create a layer of phenotypic diversity in resistance. These results may have important implications for both epidemiological and evolutionary dynamics of host-parasite interactions in the wild.Peer reviewe

Development of Plasma Vitellogenin Assay for Estrogenic Effects of Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals Using Ovariectomized Goldfish (Carassius auratus)

Plasma vitellogenin (VTG) assay was developed using ovariectomized goldfish (Carassius auratus) for determining the estrogenic effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals. In a laboratory study, we assessed the estrogenic activity of commercial fish diets by using a diet for ornamental carp (CD) and a casein-based formulated fish diet (FD), which was shown to not contain soybean or fish meal in a previous study. In ovariectomized fish, plasma VTG concentrations were significantly higher in the CD-fed group than in the FD-fed group. These results indicate that the estrogen activity of CD may be high enough to cause induction of plasma VTG in ovariectomized goldfish as previously observed in male goldfish. Moreover, the effect of estrogen on plasma VTG induction was confirmed by significant plasma VTG production following the exposure of FD-fed ovariectomized goldfish to a nominal estradiol-17β concentration of 100 μg/l for 31 days. Our data suggest that induction of plasma VTG using ovariectomized goldfish is a good tool for evaluating the estrogenic effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals