Journal
JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
Volume 15, Issue 5, Pages 735-743Publisher
BLACKWELL PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1046/j.1420-9101.2002.00448.x
Keywords
bacteria; brood size manipulation; early maternal effects; egg laying order; Hirundo rustica; innate immunity; lysozyme
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Transfer of immune factors via the egg may represent a maternal adaptation enhancing offspring survival. Lysozyme is a major component of maternal antibacterial immunity which is transferred to the eggs in birds. In a population of barn swallows (Hirundo rustica), lysozyme activity declined during the prelaying and laying periods in females but not in males. Egg hatching failure decreased with maternal lysozyme activity. The first eggs in a clutch contained more lysozyme and produced nestlings with larger lysozyme activity when 5 days old than last-laid ones. In a cross-fostering experiment where brood size was manipulated, nestling origin but not post-manipulation brood size affected lysozyme activity. Hence, maternal lysozyme varies during the breeding season and may differentially enhance antibacterial immune defence of the eggs and nestlings in relation to laying order. These findings suggest that offspring innate immunity is influenced by early maternal effects.
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