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Maternal effects and early-life performance are associated with parasite resistance across life in free-living Soay sheep

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2010

A. D. HAYWARD ,
J. G. PILKINGTON ,
J. M. PEMBERTON  and
L. E. B. KRUUK
A. D. HAYWARD*
Affiliation:
Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, Scotland
J. G. PILKINGTON
Affiliation:
Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, Scotland
J. M. PEMBERTON
Affiliation:
Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, Scotland
L. E. B. KRUUK
Affiliation:
Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, Scotland
*
*Corresponding author: Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, Scotland. Tel: +44 (0) 131 650 5440. Fax: +44 (0) 131 650 6564. E-mail: adam.hayward@ed.ac.uk
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Summary

Maternal effects occur when the maternal phenotype influences that of the offspring in addition to the effects of maternal genes, and may have a considerable influence on offspring parasite resistance. These effects, and the effects of early levels of reproduction and parasite resistance, may persist into later life and even influence ageing rates. Here we analyse a 20-year longitudinal data set collected on a free-living population of Soay sheep, to investigate the associations between a suite of maternal phenotypic traits and early-life performance on measures of parasite resistance across life. Our results show that maternal effects are important in determining offspring parasite resistance, since lambs born as twins and those born to the youngest and oldest mothers show higher parasite burdens. We show that the association between parasite resistance and natal litter size persists into adulthood. We also show that age-specific changes in parasite resistance in males are associated with natal litter size, and that age-specific changes in females are influenced by early-life levels of reproduction and parasite infection. These results add to the growing evidence that conditions experienced by individuals during development can have a profound influence on immediate and late-life performance and may even influence ageing.

Keywords

maternal effectsSoay sheepparasite resistancestrongylesfaecal egg countsearly-life performance
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 137 , Issue 8 , July 2010 , pp. 1261 - 1273
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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