Journal
AMERICAN NATURALIST
Volume 174, Issue 4, Pages 557-564Publisher
UNIV CHICAGO PRESS
DOI: 10.1086/605379
Keywords
egg quality; genetic maternal effects; genetic variation; maternal investment; steroids; transgenerational plasticity
Categories
Funding
- Janggen-Pohn Stiftung
- Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour
- Basler Stiftung fur Biologische Forschung
- Australian Research Council [DP0879313]
- Swiss National Science Foundation [PA00A3-121466]
- French National Research Agency [ANR-06-JCJC-0082]
- French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) [PICS 3054]
- British Ecological Society [SEPG 2005-30011004]
- Helge Ax:Son Johnsons Stiftelse
- Zoologiska Stiftelse
- Australian Research Council [DP0879313] Funding Source: Australian Research Council
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) [ANR-06-JCJC-0082] Funding Source: Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR)
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Differential reproductive investment by the mother can critically influence offspring development and phenotype, and strong selection is therefore expected to act on such maternal effects. Although a genetic basis is a prerequisite for phenotypic traits to respond to selection and thus to evolve, we still know very little about the extent of heritable variation in maternal effects in natural populations. Here, we present the first estimates of intrafemale repeatability across breeding seasons and estimates of heritability of hormone-mediated maternal effects in a wild population of collared flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis). We found that maternal yolk testosterone (T) concentrations, yolk mass, and egg mass were moderately to highly repeatable within females across years, whereas intrafemale consistency of maternal yolk androstenedione (A4) deposition was low yet statistically significant. Furthermore, maternal yolk T transfer, yolk mass, and egg mass were significantly heritable, whereas yolk A4 transfer was not. These results strongly suggest that two major maternal yolk androgens are differentially regulated by genes and the environment. Selection on heritable variation in maternal yolk T deposition has the potential to shape the rate and direction of phenotypic change in offspring traits and can thereby accelerate or impede the response to selection in natural populations.
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