Brooding fathers, not siblings, take up nutrients from embryos.

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
Gry SagebakkenC Kvarnemo

Abstract

It is well known that many animals with placenta-like structures provide their embryos with nutrients and oxygen. However, we demonstrate here that nutrients can pass the other way, from embryos to the parent. The study was done on a pipefish, Syngnathus typhle, in which males brood fertilized eggs in a brood pouch for several weeks. Earlier research has found a reduction of embryo numbers during the brooding period, but the fate of the nutrients from these 'reduced' embryos has been unknown. In this study, we considered whether (i) the brooding male absorbs the nutrients, (ii) siblings absorb them, or (iii) a combination of both. Males were mated to two sets of females, one of which had radioactively labelled eggs (using (14)C-labelled amino acids), such that approximately half the eggs in the brood pouch were labelled. This allowed us to trace nutrient uptake from these embryos. We detected that (14)C-labelled amino acids were transferred to the male brood pouch, liver and muscle tissue. However, we did not detect any significant (14)C-labelled amino-acid absorption by the non-labelled half-siblings in the brood pouch. Thus, we show, to our knowledge, for the first time, that males absorb nutrients derived from embryos throug...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jun 7, 2013·Biology Letters·Benjamin J WegenerBob B M Wong
Oct 25, 2013·Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution·Tonje AronsenGunilla Rosenqvist
Jun 19, 2010·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·Stephanie Jill KamelDustin J Marshall
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Jun 10, 2011·Journal of Fish Biology·I Ahnesjö, J F Craig
Aug 21, 2015·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Ines Braga GoncalvesCharlotta Kvarnemo
May 28, 2016·Ecology and Evolution·Ines Braga GoncalvesCharlotta Kvarnemo
Jun 1, 2016·PloS One·Gry SagebakkenCharlotta Kvarnemo
Mar 20, 2010·Nature·Anders Berglund
Aug 24, 2018·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·M CunhaN Monteiro
Oct 9, 2019·Behavioral Ecology : Official Journal of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology·Malin NygårdInes Braga Goncalves
May 7, 2020·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Camilla M Whittington, Christopher R Friesen
Nov 30, 2018·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Robin M Hare, Leigh W Simmons

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