Abstract
Stress during early life can profoundly influence an individual's phenotype. Effects can manifest in the short-term as well as later in life and even in subsequent generations. Transgenerational effects of stress are potentially mediated via modulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) as well as epigenetic mechanisms causing heritable changes in gene expression. To investigate these pathways we subjected domestic chicken (Gallus gallus) to intermittent social isolation for the first three weeks of life. The early life stress resulted in a dampened corticosterone response to restraint stress in affected birds and in their male offspring. Stress-specific genes, such as early growth response 1 (EGR1) and corticotropin releasing hormone receptor 1 (CRHR1), were upregulated immediately after restraint stress, but not under baseline conditions. Treatment differences in gene expression were also correlated across generations which indicate transgenerational epigenetic inheritance. In an associative learning test early stressed birds made more correct choices suggesting a higher coping ability in stressful situations. This study is the first to show transgenerational effects of early life stress in a precocial species by combining behavioral, endocrinological, and transcriptomic measurements. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 711-718 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Hormones and Behavior |
Volume | 61 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - May 2012 |
Externally published | Yes |
Funding
The authors would like to thank the members of the AVIAN group, and especially Ida Gustafson and Lejla Bektic for their help with sample collection and maintenance of the birds. The project was supported by grants from the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning.
Keywords
- Early growth response
- Corticotropin releasing hormone receptor
- Postnatal stress
- Transgenerational effects
- Steroid hormones
- Gene expression
- BARN SWALLOW NESTLINGS
- ARGININE VASOTOCIN
- JAPANESE-QUAIL
- ZEBRA FINCHES
- GALLUS-GALLUS
- BASE-LINE
- SIZE
- EPIGENETICS
- PLASMA
- LIFE