Maternal and paternal effects on behavior in threespined sticklebacks

众所周知，父母通过遗传物质影响后代，但越来越多的人认识到，父母也可以通过非遗传机制影响后代。迄今为止，研究主要集中在单亲对其后代的影响上，尽管生物学上的现实是，在大多数生物体中，母亲和父亲同时发生。该项目的目标是研究母亲和父亲对三刺棘鱼后代行为的共同影响。三刺棘鱼是一种由父亲单独负责养育后代的小鱼。研究刺鱼的优势之一是，母亲和父亲对后代的非遗传影响在时间上是分离的，并且通过不同的机制发生：母亲通过卵中的物质在发育早期影响后代，而父亲通过其养育行为影响后代。这些研究将揭示非遗传亲代对后代行为的影响是否具有适应性，并有助于后代在危险环境中生存。本着这项资助的精神，我们与当地的一个男孩女孩俱乐部发起了一个公共推广项目，研究8-10岁儿童的野生动物行为，其中许多人受到资助中研究的问题（寄养、收养、养育方式的差异等）的影响，他们很少有机会参与科学研究。这次合作的最终结果将是一本适合这个年龄组的基本行为实验手册。这项计划中的活动将为许多本科生、一名研究生和一名博士后提供培训和拓展机会。了解母亲和父亲如何结合起来塑造刺鱼后代的行为，可以作为父母对其他物种（包括人类）后代影响的模型。

While it is well-known that parents influence their offspring via the genetic material they pass on, it is becoming increasingly recognized that parents can also influence their offspring via non-genetic mechanisms. To date, studies have focused on the influence of a single parent on their offspring, despite the biological reality that mothering and fathering co-occur in most organisms. The goal of the proposed project is to examine the joint influence of mothers and fathers on offspring behavior in threespined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus), a small fish in which the father is solely responsible for parental care. One of the advantages of studying sticklebacks is that the non-genetic influence of mothers and fathers on offspring is disassociated in time and occurs via different mechanisms: mothers influence offspring early in development via material in the eggs, while fathers influence offspring via their parenting behavior. The proposed studies will reveal whether non-genetic parental effects on offspring behavior can be adaptive, and help to prepare offspring for survival in a dangerous environment. In the spirit of this grant, a public outreach project with a local Boys and Girls Club has been initiated to study wildlife behavior with 8-10 year-old children, many of whom have been affected by the issues that are studied in the grant (foster care, adoption, differences in parenting styles, etc.), and who have had few opportunities to engage in science. The end result of this collaboration will be a handbook for basic behavioral experiments that are appropriate for this age group. The proposed activity will provide training and outreach opportunities for many undergraduates, a graduate student and one Postdoc, Understanding how mothers and fathers combine to shape the behavior of their offspring in sticklebacks can be used as a model for the influence of parents on offspring in other species, including humans.