Increased paternal stress corticosterone exposure preconception shifts offspring social behaviours and expression of urinary pheromones
Studies have shown that paternal stress prior to conception can influence the innate behaviours of their offspring. The evolutionary benefits impacts of such intergenerational adaptations effects continue to be speculated upon. Our group previously showed that glucocorticoid treatment of adult male mouse breeders prior to conception leads to increased anxiety-related behaviours in male offspring. Here, we aimed to understand the transgenerational effects of paternal stress exposure on the social behaviour of progeny and its potential influence on adaptiveness fitness. We assessed social parameters including social reward, male attractiveness and social dominance, in the offspring (F1) and grand-offspring (F2). We report that paternal corticosterone-treatment was associated with increased display of subordination towards other male mice. Those mice were unexpectedly more attractive to female mice while expressing reduced levels of the key rodent pheromone Darcin, contrary to its conventional purpose. No differences in F0 sperm DNA methylation were found in the genes that encode the Major Urinary Protein pheromones. No overt differences of the prefrontal cortex transcriptome were found in F1 offspring, implying that peripheral mechanisms are likely contributing to the phenotypic differences. Interestingly, no phenotypic differences were observed in the F2 grand-offspring. Overall, our findings highlight the contribution potential of of moderate paternal stress to affect an intergenerational (mal)adaptive responses, informing future studies of adaptiveness fitness in rodents, humans and other species.