Abstract
Many planktonic organisms produce ‘resting’ stages when the environmental conditions deteriorate. Like seeds, resting stages can survive unfavourable conditions. The crustacean Daphnia normally reproduces by means of parthenogenetically produced normal, not resting, eggs—but occasionally switches to bisexual reproduction, which results in two resting eggs encased in a robust structure carried on the back of the female. This ‘ephippium’ is shed with the next moult, and can survive dormant for many years. The induction of resting-egg production requires multiple environmental stimuli, one of them being photoperiod1,2. The switch from production of parthenogenetic eggs to resting eggs in Daphnia has recently been shown to be influenced by a maternal food effect3. Here we present evidence that female Daphnia transmit information not only about food but also on photoperiod to their offspring, and influence the production of resting eggs in the next generation. The combined maternal effects can be relevant for the correct timing of resting-egg production—for example, in discriminating between spring and autumn conditions.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Prices vary by article type
from$1.95
to$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Stross, R. G. & Hill, J. C. Diapause induction in Daphnia requires two stimuli. Science 150, 1463–1464 (1965).
Kleiven, O. T., Larsson, P. & Hobaek, A. Sexual reproduction in Daphnia magna requires three stimuli. Oikos 65, 197–206 (1992).
LaMontagne, J. M. & McCauley, E. Maternal effects in Daphnia: what mothers are telling their offspring and do they listen? Ecol. Lett. 4, 64–71 (2001).
Hairston, N. G. Jr, Van Brunt, R. A., Kearns, C. M. & Engstrom, D. R. Age and survivorship of diapausing eggs in a sediment egg bank. Ecology 76, 1706–1711 (1995).
Hairston, N. G. Jr et al. Rapid evolution revealed by dormant eggs. Nature 401, 446 (1999).
Cousyn, C. et al. Rapid, local adaptation of zooplankton behavior to changes in predation pressure in the absence of neutral genetic changes. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 98, 6256–6260 (2001).
Mousseaux, T. A. & Fox, C. W. The adaptive significance of maternal effects. Trends Ecol. Evol. 13, 403–407 (1998).
Fox, C. W. & Mousseaux, T. A. in Maternal Effects as Adaptations (eds Mousseaux, T. A. & Fox, C. W.) 159–177 (Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 1998).
Agrawal, A. A., Laforsch, C. & Tollrian, R. Transgenerational induction of defences in animals and plants. Nature 401, 60–63 (1999).
Danilevskii, A. A. Photoperiodism and Seasonal Development in Insects (Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh, 1965).
Spaak, P. Sexual reproduction in Daphnia: interspecific differences in a hybrid species complex. Oecologia 104, 501–507 (1995).
Caceres, C. A. Interspecific variation in the abundance, production and emergence of Daphnia diapausing eggs. Ecology 79, 1699–1710 (1998).
Webb, M. L. Z. & Denzlinger, D. L. GABA and picrotoxin alter expression of a maternal effect that influences pupal diapause in the flesh fly, Sarcophaga bullata. Physiol. Entomol. 23, 184–191 (1998).
Sommer, U., Gliwicz, Z. M., Lampert, W. & Duncan, A. The PEG-model of seasonal succession of planktonic events in fresh waters. Arch. Hydrobiol. 106, 433–471 (1986).
Tauber, M. C., Tauber, C. A. & Masaki, S. Seasonal Adaptations of Insects (Oxford Univ. Press, New York, 1986).
Hebert, P. D. N. & Crease, T. Clonal diversity in populations of Daphnia pulex reproducing by obligate parthenogenesis. Heredity 51, 353–369 (1983).
Lampert, W., Schmitt, R.-D. & Muck, P. Vertical migration of freshwater zooplankton: test of some hypotheses predicting a metabolic advantage. Bull. Mar. Sci. 43, 620–640 (1988).
Acknowledgements
We thank M. Volquardsen for technical support, and C. Jamieson for linguistic help. V.A. was supported by a fellowship of the Max Planck Society and a grant of the Russian Science Foundation for Basic Research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Additional information
Max Planck Institute of Limnology, Department of Physiological Ecology, Postfach 165, D-24302 Ploen, Germany
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Alekseev, V., Lampert, W. Maternal control of resting-egg production in Daphnia. Nature 414, 899–901 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/414899a
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/414899a
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.