title: Effects of Paternal Predation Risk and Rearing Environment on Maternal Investment and Development of Defensive Responses in the Offspring.
abstract: Detecting past experiences with predators of a potential mate informs a female about prevailing ecological threats, in addition to stress-induced phenotypes that may be disseminated to offspring. We examined whether prior exposure of a male rat to a predator (cat) odor influences the attraction of a female toward a male, subsequent mother-infant interactions and the development of defensive (emotional) responses in the offspring. Females displayed less interest in males that had experienced predator odor. Mothers that reared young in larger, seminaturalistic housing provided more licking and grooming and active arched back-nursing behavior toward their offspring compared with dams housed in standard housing, although some effects interacted with paternal experience. Paternal predation risk and maternal rearing environment revealed sex-dependent differences in offspring wean weight, juvenile social interactions, and anxiety-like behavior in adolescence. Additionally, paternal predator experience and maternal housing independently affected variations incrfgene promoter acetylation andcrfgene expression in response to an acute stressor in offspring. Our results show for the first time in mammals that variation among males in their predator encounters may contribute to stable behavioral variation among females in preference for mates and maternal care, even when the females are not directly exposed to predator threat. Furthermore, when offspring were exposed to the same threat experienced by the father, hypothalamiccrfgene regulation was influenced by paternal olfactory experience and early housing. These results, together with our previous findings, suggest that paternal stress exposure and maternal rearing conditions can influence maternal behavior and the development of defensive responses in offspring.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University , Halifax B3H 4R2, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: Austin C
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1686-997X
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Korgan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University , Halifax B3H 4R2, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5211-9570
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: O'Leary
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University , Halifax B3H 4R2, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University , Halifax B3H 4R2, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: Aidan
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7199-6376
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fortier
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax B3H 4R2, Nova Scotia, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University, Halifax B3H 4R2, Nova Scotia, Canada; Brain Repair Centre, Dalhousie University, Halifax B3H 4R2, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: Ian C G
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8709-8941
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Weaver
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax B3H 4R2, Nova Scotia, Canada; Brain Repair Centre, Dalhousie University, Halifax B3H 4R2, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: Tara S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Perrot
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation; D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety; D002415:Cats; D005220:Fathers; D005260:Female; D006120:Grooming; D006799:Housing, Animal; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009812:Odorants; D010988:Play and Playthings; D011235:Predatory Behavior; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D018019:Receptors, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D012919:Social Behavior; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018019:Receptors, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone
keywords: CRF; chromatin plasticity; hypothalamus; maternal care; paternal effects; predator stress