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Transgenerational sex determination: the embryonic environment experienced by a male lizard affects the sex ratio of his offspring

Warner, Daniel ; Uller, Tobias LU and Shine, Richard (2013) In Scientific Reports 3.
Abstract
Conditions experienced during embryonic development can have lasting effects, even carrying across generations. Most evidence for transgenerational effects comes from studies of female mammals, with much less known about egg-laying organisms or paternally-mediated effects. Here we show that offspring sex can be affected by the incubation temperature its father experiences years earlier. We incubated eggs of an Australian lizard with temperature-dependent sex determination under three thermal regimes; some eggs were given an aromatase inhibitor to produce sons at temperatures that usually produce only daughters. Offspring were raised to maturity and freely interbred within field enclosures. After incubating eggs of the subsequent generation... (More)
Conditions experienced during embryonic development can have lasting effects, even carrying across generations. Most evidence for transgenerational effects comes from studies of female mammals, with much less known about egg-laying organisms or paternally-mediated effects. Here we show that offspring sex can be affected by the incubation temperature its father experiences years earlier. We incubated eggs of an Australian lizard with temperature-dependent sex determination under three thermal regimes; some eggs were given an aromatase inhibitor to produce sons at temperatures that usually produce only daughters. Offspring were raised to maturity and freely interbred within field enclosures. After incubating eggs of the subsequent generation and assigning parentage, we found that the developmental temperature experienced by a male significantly influences the sex of his future progeny. This transgenerational effect on sex ratio may reflect an epigenetic influence on paternally-inherited DNA. Clearly, sex determination in reptiles is far more complex than is currently envisaged. (Less)
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author
; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Scientific Reports
volume
3
article number
2709
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • scopus:84884619672
  • pmid:24048344
ISSN
2045-2322
DOI
10.1038/srep02709
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
2752b5db-5079-4b52-a099-c15d64b6546e (old id 4738940)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:21:29
date last changed
2022-04-21 21:14:04
@article{2752b5db-5079-4b52-a099-c15d64b6546e,
  abstract     = {{Conditions experienced during embryonic development can have lasting effects, even carrying across generations. Most evidence for transgenerational effects comes from studies of female mammals, with much less known about egg-laying organisms or paternally-mediated effects. Here we show that offspring sex can be affected by the incubation temperature its father experiences years earlier. We incubated eggs of an Australian lizard with temperature-dependent sex determination under three thermal regimes; some eggs were given an aromatase inhibitor to produce sons at temperatures that usually produce only daughters. Offspring were raised to maturity and freely interbred within field enclosures. After incubating eggs of the subsequent generation and assigning parentage, we found that the developmental temperature experienced by a male significantly influences the sex of his future progeny. This transgenerational effect on sex ratio may reflect an epigenetic influence on paternally-inherited DNA. Clearly, sex determination in reptiles is far more complex than is currently envisaged.}},
  author       = {{Warner, Daniel and Uller, Tobias and Shine, Richard}},
  issn         = {{2045-2322}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Scientific Reports}},
  title        = {{Transgenerational sex determination: the embryonic environment experienced by a male lizard affects the sex ratio of his offspring}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep02709}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/srep02709}},
  volume       = {{3}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}