Organizational effects of maternal testosterone on reproductive behavior of adult house sparrows

Partecke, Jesko; Schwabl, Hubert

Organizational effects of maternal testosterone on reproductive behavior of adult house sparrows

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Date

2008

Authors

Partecke, Jesko

Schwabl, Hubert

Publication type

Journal article

Publication status

Published

Published in

Developmental Neurobiology ; 68 (2008), 14. - pp. 1538-1548. - Wiley-Blackwell. - ISSN 0022-3034. - eISSN 1097-4695

Abstract

Despite the well-known, long-term, organizational actions of sex steroids on phenotypic differences between the sexes, studies of maternal steroids in the vertebrate egg have mainly focused on effects seen in early life. Long-term organizational effects of yolk hormones on adult behavior and the underlying mechanisms that generate them have been largely ignored. Using an experiment in which hand-reared house sparrows (Passer domesticus) from testosterone- or control-treated eggs were kept under identical conditions, we show that testosterone treatment in the egg increased the frequency of aggressive, dominance, and sexual behavior of 1-year-old, reproductively competent house sparrows. We also show that circulating plasma levels of progesterone, testosterone, 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone, and 17beta-estradiol did not differ between treatment groups. Thus, a simple change in adult gonadal hormone secretion is not the primary physiological cause of long-term effects of maternal steroids on adult behavior. Rather, differences in adult behavior caused by exposure to yolk testosterone during embryonic development are likely generated by organizational modifications of brain function. Furthermore, our data provide evidence that hormone-mediated maternal effects are an epigenetic mechanism causing intra-sexual variation in adult behavioral phenotype.

Subject (DDC)

570 Biosciences, Biology

Keywords

maternal effects, behavior, hypothalamus–pituitary–gonadal axis, individual variation, yolk hormone

Cite This

ISO 690

PARTECKE, Jesko, Hubert SCHWABL, 2008. Organizational effects of maternal testosterone on reproductive behavior of adult house sparrows. In: Developmental Neurobiology. Wiley-Blackwell. 68(14), pp. 1538-1548. ISSN 0022-3034. eISSN 1097-4695. Available under: doi: 10.1002/dneu.20676

BibTex

@article{Partecke2008-12Organ-51711,
  year={2008},
  doi={10.1002/dneu.20676},
  title={Organizational effects of maternal testosterone on reproductive behavior of adult house sparrows},
  number={14},
  volume={68},
  issn={0022-3034},
  journal={Developmental Neurobiology},
  pages={1538--1548},
  author={Partecke, Jesko and Schwabl, Hubert}
}

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Refereed

Yes