A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Intra- and trans-generational phenotypic responses of the greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella, to a low-nutrition larval diet
Authors: Katariina Kangassalo, Jouni Sorvari, Ilkka Nousiainen, Mari Pölkki, Terhi M. Valtonen, Indrikis Krams, Markus J. Rantala
Publisher: FINNISH ZOOLOGICAL BOTANICAL PUBLISHING BOARD
Publication year: 2020
Journal:Annales Zoologici Fennici
Journal name in sourceANNALES ZOOLOGICI FENNICI
Journal acronym: ANN ZOOL FENN
Volume: 57
Issue: 1-6
First page : 99
Last page: 114
Number of pages: 16
ISSN: 0003-455X
eISSN: 1797-2450
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5735/086.057.0111
Abstract
We investigated the intra- and trans-generational effects of larval diet on immune function, body size and development time of the greater wax moth, Galleria inellonella (Lepidoptera : Pyralidae). We found that moths reared on a diet diluted with cellulose (a low-nutrition diet) were about one-third smaller, had about one-fifth longer development time and exhibited about 10% stronger encapsulation responses as compared with moths reared on the standard diet. The low-nutrition parental diet prolonged the development time of male offspring that were fed the low-nutrition diet by about 4% and the development time of female offspring that were fed the standard diet by about 1%. However. females that were fed the low-nutrition diet attained about 6% greater body mass when their parents were reared on the low-nutrition diet. Our results add to the growing number of studies demonstrating that the nutritional history of parents can affect the performance of their offspring.
We investigated the intra- and trans-generational effects of larval diet on immune function, body size and development time of the greater wax moth, Galleria inellonella (Lepidoptera : Pyralidae). We found that moths reared on a diet diluted with cellulose (a low-nutrition diet) were about one-third smaller, had about one-fifth longer development time and exhibited about 10% stronger encapsulation responses as compared with moths reared on the standard diet. The low-nutrition parental diet prolonged the development time of male offspring that were fed the low-nutrition diet by about 4% and the development time of female offspring that were fed the standard diet by about 1%. However. females that were fed the low-nutrition diet attained about 6% greater body mass when their parents were reared on the low-nutrition diet. Our results add to the growing number of studies demonstrating that the nutritional history of parents can affect the performance of their offspring.
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