Sex-specific catch-up growth in the Texas field cricket,<i>Gryllus texensis</i>

Tawes, Brittany R.; Kelly, Clint D.

doi:10.1111/bij.12871

Cited by 3 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Previous studies, however, are inconsistent as to whether predictions were met or not (Barreto et al 2003;Livingston et al 2014;Stillwell & Davidowitz 2010;Tawes & Kelly 2017), thus indicating that possible trade-offs between growth compensation, taxon-dependent lifehistory, and environmental conditions that determine the adaptive value of compensation require further research.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…As benefits and costs of developmental compensation may differ considerably between males and females, integrating pre-estimated divergent selection on body size may substantiate experimental work on such strategies. Plastic modifications of life-history traits have been related to experimental feeding regimes in a range of studies (Bauerfeind & Fischer 2005;Bonneaud et al 2016;Dahl et al 2012;Davidowitz et al 2003;Fernandez-Montraveta & Moya-Larano 2007;Kleinteich & Schneider 2011;Krause & Caspers 2016), but relatively few of these have addressed sex-specific differences regarding compensatory development (Arnold et al 2007;Chin et al 2013;Tawes & Kelly 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Peer Review #2 of "Fitness implications of sex-specific catch-up growth in Nephila senegalensis, a spider with extreme reversed SSD (v0.2)"

Foellmer¹

2017

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Background. Animal growth is often constrained by unfavourable conditions and divergences from optimal body size can be detrimental to an individual's fitness, particularly in species with determinate growth and a narrow time-frame for life-time reproduction. Growth restriction in early juvenile stages can later be compensated by means of plastic developmental responses, such as adaptive catch-up growth (the compensation of growth deficits through delayed development). Although sex differences regarding the mode and degree of growth compensation have been coherently predicted from sex-specific fitness payoffs, inconsistent results imply a need for further research. We used the African Nephila senegalensis, representing an extreme case of female-biased SSD, to study fitness implications of sex-specific growth compensation. We predicted effective catch-up growth in early food-restricted females to result in full compensation of growth deficits and a life-time fecundity (LTF) equivalent to unrestricted females. Based on a stronger trade-off between size-related benefits and costs of a delayed maturation, we expected less effective catch-up growth in males.Methods. We tracked the development of over one thousand spiders in different feeding treatments, e.g. comprising a fixed period of early low feeding conditions followed by unrestricted feeding conditions, permanent unrestricted feeding conditions, or permanent low feeding conditions as a control. In a second experimental section, we assessed female fitness by measuring LTF in a subset of females. In addition, we tested whether compensatory development affected the reproductive lifespan in both sexes and analysed genotype-by-treatment interactions as a potential cause of variation in life-history traits.Results. Both sexes delayed maturation to counteract early growth restriction, but only females achieved full compensation of adult body size. Female catch-up growth resulted in equivalent LTF compared to unrestricted females. We found significant interactions between experimental treatments and sex as well as between treatments and family lineage, suggesting that family-specific responses contribute to the unusually large variation of life-history traits in Nephila spiders. Our feeding treatments had no effect on the reproductive lifespan in either sex. Discussion. Our findings are in line with predictions of life-history theory and corroborate strong fecundity selection to result in full female growth compensation. Males showed incomplete growth compensation despite a delayed development, indicating relaxed selection on large size and a stronger trade-off between late maturation and size-related benefits. We suggest that moderate catch-up growth in males is still adaptive as a 'bet-hedging' strategy to disperse unavoidable costs between life-history traits affected by early growth restriction (the duration of development and adult size).

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peer Review #2 of "Fitness implications of sex-specific catch-up growth in Nephila senegalensis, a spider with extreme reversed SSD (v0.2)"

Foellmer¹

2017

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“…In general, predictions concerning such differences are based on (1) proposed sex-specific net benefits of growth compensation (i.e., the sex whose fitness depends stronger on large body size is expected to show a higher degree of growth compensation), (2) on the possibility to increase size after sexual maturation (i.e., determinate versus indeterminate growth; with determinate growth generating stronger selection pressure to compensate growth deficits), and (3) on potential long-term costs of compensatory development ( Livingston, Kahn & Jennions, 2014 ). Previous studies, however, are inconsistent as to whether predictions were met or not ( Barreto, Moreira & Carvalho, 2003 ; Livingston, Kahn & Jennions, 2014 ; Stillwell & Davidowitz, 2010 ; Tawes & Kelly, 2016 ), thus indicating that possible trade-offs between growth compensation, taxon-dependent life-history, and environmental conditions that determine the adaptive value of compensation require further research.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…As benefits and costs of developmental compensation may differ considerably between males and females, integrating pre-estimated divergent selection on body size may substantiate experimental work on such strategies. Plastic modifications of life-history traits have been related to experimental feeding regimes in a range of studies ( Bauerfeind & Fischer, 2005 ; Bonneaud et al, 2016 ; Dahl et al, 2012 ; Davidowitz, D’Amico & Nijhout, 2003 ; Fernandez-Montraveta & Moya-Larano, 2007 ; Kleinteich & Schneider, 2011 ; Krause & Caspers, 2016 ), but relatively few of these have addressed sex-specific differences regarding compensatory development ( Arnold et al, 2007 ; Chin et al, 2013 ; Tawes & Kelly, 2016 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fitness implications of sex-specific catch-up growth inNephila senegalensis, a spider with extreme reversed SSD

Neumann

Ruppel

Schneider

2017

PeerJ

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BackgroundAnimal growth is often constrained by unfavourable conditions and divergences from optimal body size can be detrimental to an individual’s fitness, particularly in species with determinate growth and a narrow time-frame for life-time reproduction. Growth restriction in early juvenile stages can later be compensated by means of plastic developmental responses, such as adaptive catch-up growth (the compensation of growth deficits through delayed development). Although sex differences regarding the mode and degree of growth compensation have been coherently predicted from sex-specific fitness payoffs, inconsistent results imply a need for further research. We used the African Nephila senegalensis, representing an extreme case of female-biased sexual size dimorphism (SSD), to study fitness implications of sex-specific growth compensation. We predicted effective catch-up growth in early food-restricted females to result in full compensation of growth deficits and a life-time fecundity (LTF) equivalent to unrestricted females. Based on a stronger trade-off between size-related benefits and costs of a delayed maturation, we expected less effective catch-up growth in males.MethodsWe tracked the development of over one thousand spiders in different feeding treatments, e.g., comprising a fixed period of early low feeding conditions followed by unrestricted feeding conditions, permanent unrestricted feeding conditions, or permanent low feeding conditions as a control. In a second experimental section, we assessed female fitness by measuring LTF in a subset of females. In addition, we tested whether compensatory development affected the reproductive lifespan in both sexes and analysed genotype-by-treatment interactions as a potential cause of variation in life-history traits.ResultsBoth sexes delayed maturation to counteract early growth restriction, but only females achieved full compensation of adult body size. Female catch-up growth resulted in equivalent LTF compared to unrestricted females. We found significant interactions between experimental treatments and sex as well as between treatments and family lineage, suggesting that family-specific responses contribute to the unusually large variation of life-history traits in Nephila spiders. Our feeding treatments had no effect on the reproductive lifespan in either sex.DiscussionOur findings are in line with predictions of life-history theory and corroborate strong fecundity selection to result in full female growth compensation. Males showed incomplete growth compensation despite a delayed development, indicating relaxed selection on large size and a stronger trade-off between late maturation and size-related benefits. We suggest that moderate catch-up growth in males is still adaptive as a ‘bet-hedging’ strategy to disperse unavoidable costs between life-history traits affected by early growth restriction (the duration of development and adult size).

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“…Following a physiologically costly event or a period of poor nutrition, juveniles may increase their growth rate (i.e., compensatory growth) or prolong development (i.e., catch‐up growth) to increase body size prior to maturity (Jobling, 2010 ; Metcalfe & Monaghan, 2001 ). For example, female field crickets deprived of food will prolong development time in order to maximize their adult body size (Tawes & Kelly, 2017 ), an important determinant of lifetime fitness (Saleh et al, 2014 ). Should infection occur after sexual maturity, however, considerable strain is placed on gamete production upon upregulating the immune response (Schwenke et al, 2016 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The developmental high wire: Balancing resource investment in immunity and reproduction

Breiner

Whalen

Worthington

2022

Ecology and Evolution

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The strategic allocation of resources into immunity poses a unique challenge for individuals, where infection at different stages of development may result in unique trade‐offs with concurrent physiological processes or future fitness‐enhancing traits. Here, we experimentally induced an immune challenge in female Gryllus firmus crickets to test whether illness at discrete life stages differentially impacts fitness. We injected heat‐killed Serratia marcescens bacteria into antepenultimate juveniles, penultimate juveniles, sexually immature adults, and sexually mature adults, and then measured body growth, instar duration, mating rate, viability of stored sperm, egg production, oviposition rate, and egg viability. Immune activation significantly impacted reproductive traits, where females that were immune challenged as adults had decreased mating success and decreased egg viability compared to healthy individuals or females that were immune challenged as juveniles. Although there was no effect of an immune challenge on the other traits measured, the stress of handling resulted in reduced mass gain and smaller adult body size in females from the juvenile treatments, and females in the adult treatments suffered from reduced viability of sperm stored within their spermatheca. In summary, we found that an immune challenge does have negative impacts on reproduction, but also that even minor acute stressors can have significant impacts on fitness‐enhancing traits. These findings highlight that the factors affecting fitness can be complex and at times unpredictable, and that the consequences of illness are specific to when during an individual's life an immune challenge is induced.

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Sex-specific catch-up growth in the Texas field cricket,Gryllus texensis

Cited by 3 publications

References 86 publications

Peer Review #2 of "Fitness implications of sex-specific catch-up growth in Nephila senegalensis, a spider with extreme reversed SSD (v0.2)"

Peer Review #2 of "Fitness implications of sex-specific catch-up growth in Nephila senegalensis, a spider with extreme reversed SSD (v0.2)"

Fitness implications of sex-specific catch-up growth inNephila senegalensis, a spider with extreme reversed SSD

The developmental high wire: Balancing resource investment in immunity and reproduction

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