Social instability in laying quail: consequences on yolk steroids and offspring's phenotype
2010
Guibert, Floriane | Richard-Yris, Marie-Annick | Lumineau, Sophie | Kotrschal, Kurt | Guémené, Daniel | Bertin, Aline | Möstl, Erich | Houdelier, Cécilia | Ethologie animale et humaine (EthoS) ; Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN) ; Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Université de Rennes (UR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) | Konrad Lorenz Forschungsstelle Grünau ; Universität Wien = University of Vienna | Department of Behavioural Biology ; Universität Wien = University of Vienna | Unité de Recherches Avicoles (URA) ; Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) | Physiologie de la reproduction et des comportements [Nouzilly] (PRC) ; Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Institut Français du Cheval et de l'Equitation [Saumur] (IFCE)-Université de Tours (UT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) | Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Biochemistry ; University of Veterinary Medicine
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Afficher plus [+] Moins [-]anglais. Individual phenotypic characteristics of many species are influenced by non-genetic maternal effects. Female birds can influence the development of their offspring before birth via the yolk steroid content of their eggs. We investigated this prenatal maternal effect by analysing the influence of laying females' social environment on their eggs' hormonal content and on their offspring's development. Social instability was applied to groups of laying Japanese quail females. We evaluated the impact of this procedure on laying females, on yolk steroid levels and on the general development of chicks. Agonistic interactions were more frequent between females kept in an unstable social environment (unstable females) than between females kept in a stable social environment (stable females). Testosterone concentrations were higher in unstable females' eggs than in those of stable females. Unstable females' chicks hatched later and developed more slowly during their first weeks of life than those of stable females. The emotional reactivity of unstable females' chicks was higher than that of stable females' chicks. In conclusion, our study showed that social instability applied to laying females affected, in a non-genetic way, their offspring's development, thus stressing the fact that females' living conditions during laying can have transgenerational effects.
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