Representative studies of transgenerational transfer in animal comparative physiology
| Species | Experimental approach | Transferred physiological or related traits | Reference |
| Invertebrates | |||
| American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis) | Alteration of maternal humidity level | Dehydration tolerance limit | Yoder et al., 2006 |
| Humidity tolerance | |||
| Daphnia (Daphnia magna) | F0 exposure to pesticides (diazonin) and herbicides (molinate) | Decreased tolerance to diazonin | Sánchez et al., 2000; Sánchez et al., 2004 |
| Increased tolerance to molinate | |||
| Fish | |||
| Zebrafish (Danio rerio) | Alteration of food type in F0 (live food versus dry food) | Cardiac parameters (stroke volume, heart rate, cardiac output) | Schwerte et al., 2005 |
| Red blood cell concentration | |||
| Zebrafish (Danio rerio) | F0 exposure to low oxygen environment | Hypoxia resistance | Ho, 2008 |
| Feral white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) | Maternal copper exposure | Growth | Munkittrick and Dixon, 1988 |
| Survival | |||
| Copper resistance | |||
| Fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) | Maternal copper exposure | Larval copper resistance | Sellin and Kolok, 2006 |
| Reptiles | |||
| Lizard (Scleoperus occidentalis) | Yolk removal | Burst speed | Sinervo and Huey, 1990 |
| Exercise stamina | |||
| Viviparous lizard (Lacerta vivipara) | Maternal exposure to variable rainfall | Survivability | Marquis et al., 2008 |
| Birds | |||
| Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) | Cross-fostering | Sex-dependent growth | Badyaev et al., 2002 |
| Laying order | Sex-dependent survivability | ||
| Blue tit (Parus caeruleus) | Egg yolk carotenoid manipulation | Cell-mediated immune response | Biard et al., 2007 |
| Growth rate | |||
| Cross-fostering | |||
| Chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) | Breed-specific alteration of egg yolk environment | Heart rate | Ho, 2008 |
| Growth rate | |||
| Broiler chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) | Heritability estimate of traits using mathematical models | Ascites-related traits | Pakdel et al., 2002; Baghbanzadeh and Decuypere, 2008 |
| Quail (Coturnix coturnix); chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus); duck (Anas sp.); turkey (Meleagris gallopavo); goose (Anser cygnoides); emu (Dromaius novaellandiae); ostrich (Struthio camelus) | Species-specific alteration of egg yolk environment | Heart rate | Ho, 2008 |
| Emu (Dromaius novaellandiae) | Inherent Variations in egg size | Metabolic rate | Dzialowski and Sotherland, 2004 |
| Double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) | Inherent variations in egg size | Metabolic rate | Dzialowski et al., 2009 |
| European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) | Experimental elevation of yolk corticosterone | Flight muscle physiology | Chin et al., 2009 |
| Flight performance | |||
| Pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) | Alteration of maternal prelaying nutrition | Growth rate | Moreno et al., 2008 |
| Resistance to mite infestation | |||
| Antioxidant supplementation | |||
| Mammals | |||
| Mouse (Mus musculus) | Heritability estimates | Response to glucose challenge | Jarvis et al., 2005 |
| Mouse (Mus musculus) | Maternal low protein diet during oocyte maturation | Postnatal hypertension | Watkins et al., 2008 |
| Attenuated arterial responsiveness to vasodilators (acetylcholine and isoprenaline) | |||
| Mouse (Mus musculus) | Maternal nutritional alteration prior to pregnancy and during pregnancy | Obesity | Howie et al., 2009 |
| Leptin resistance | |||
| Insulin resistance | |||
| Rat (Rattus norvegicus) | Alterations in maternal licking and grooming behavior (i.e. cross-fostering) | Stress response | Liu et al., 1997; Francis et al., 1999; Weaver et al., 2004; Weaver et al., 2005 |
| Rat (Rattus norvegicus) | Maternal glucocorticoid exposure | Glucose metabolism | Drake et al., 2005 |
| North American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) | Heritability estimate of traits using models | Growth rate | McAdam and Boutin, 2003 |
| Cross-fostering | |||
| Human (Homo sapien) | Observed nutritional status of parents | Risk of syndromes and disease states | Reviewed in Gluckman et al., 2007 |
| Species | Experimental approach | Transferred physiological or related traits | Reference |
| Invertebrates | |||
| American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis) | Alteration of maternal humidity level | Dehydration tolerance limit | Yoder et al., 2006 |
| Humidity tolerance | |||
| Daphnia (Daphnia magna) | F0 exposure to pesticides (diazonin) and herbicides (molinate) | Decreased tolerance to diazonin | Sánchez et al., 2000; Sánchez et al., 2004 |
| Increased tolerance to molinate | |||
| Fish | |||
| Zebrafish (Danio rerio) | Alteration of food type in F0 (live food versus dry food) | Cardiac parameters (stroke volume, heart rate, cardiac output) | Schwerte et al., 2005 |
| Red blood cell concentration | |||
| Zebrafish (Danio rerio) | F0 exposure to low oxygen environment | Hypoxia resistance | Ho, 2008 |
| Feral white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) | Maternal copper exposure | Growth | Munkittrick and Dixon, 1988 |
| Survival | |||
| Copper resistance | |||
| Fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) | Maternal copper exposure | Larval copper resistance | Sellin and Kolok, 2006 |
| Reptiles | |||
| Lizard (Scleoperus occidentalis) | Yolk removal | Burst speed | Sinervo and Huey, 1990 |
| Exercise stamina | |||
| Viviparous lizard (Lacerta vivipara) | Maternal exposure to variable rainfall | Survivability | Marquis et al., 2008 |
| Birds | |||
| Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) | Cross-fostering | Sex-dependent growth | Badyaev et al., 2002 |
| Laying order | Sex-dependent survivability | ||
| Blue tit (Parus caeruleus) | Egg yolk carotenoid manipulation | Cell-mediated immune response | Biard et al., 2007 |
| Growth rate | |||
| Cross-fostering | |||
| Chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) | Breed-specific alteration of egg yolk environment | Heart rate | Ho, 2008 |
| Growth rate | |||
| Broiler chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) | Heritability estimate of traits using mathematical models | Ascites-related traits | Pakdel et al., 2002; Baghbanzadeh and Decuypere, 2008 |
| Quail (Coturnix coturnix); chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus); duck (Anas sp.); turkey (Meleagris gallopavo); goose (Anser cygnoides); emu (Dromaius novaellandiae); ostrich (Struthio camelus) | Species-specific alteration of egg yolk environment | Heart rate | Ho, 2008 |
| Emu (Dromaius novaellandiae) | Inherent Variations in egg size | Metabolic rate | Dzialowski and Sotherland, 2004 |
| Double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) | Inherent variations in egg size | Metabolic rate | Dzialowski et al., 2009 |
| European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) | Experimental elevation of yolk corticosterone | Flight muscle physiology | Chin et al., 2009 |
| Flight performance | |||
| Pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) | Alteration of maternal prelaying nutrition | Growth rate | Moreno et al., 2008 |
| Resistance to mite infestation | |||
| Antioxidant supplementation | |||
| Mammals | |||
| Mouse (Mus musculus) | Heritability estimates | Response to glucose challenge | Jarvis et al., 2005 |
| Mouse (Mus musculus) | Maternal low protein diet during oocyte maturation | Postnatal hypertension | Watkins et al., 2008 |
| Attenuated arterial responsiveness to vasodilators (acetylcholine and isoprenaline) | |||
| Mouse (Mus musculus) | Maternal nutritional alteration prior to pregnancy and during pregnancy | Obesity | Howie et al., 2009 |
| Leptin resistance | |||
| Insulin resistance | |||
| Rat (Rattus norvegicus) | Alterations in maternal licking and grooming behavior (i.e. cross-fostering) | Stress response | Liu et al., 1997; Francis et al., 1999; Weaver et al., 2004; Weaver et al., 2005 |
| Rat (Rattus norvegicus) | Maternal glucocorticoid exposure | Glucose metabolism | Drake et al., 2005 |
| North American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) | Heritability estimate of traits using models | Growth rate | McAdam and Boutin, 2003 |
| Cross-fostering | |||
| Human (Homo sapien) | Observed nutritional status of parents | Risk of syndromes and disease states | Reviewed in Gluckman et al., 2007 |