Did Dad Lick the Kids Today? Transmission of Microbes Through Parental Care in a Teleost Fish (Cichlosoma nigrofasciatum).
Presentation Type
Oral and/or Visual Presentation
Presenter Major(s)
Biomedical Sciences
Mentor Information
Jodee Hunt, huntj@gvsu.edu
Department
Biology
Location
Kirkhof Center 2216
Start Date
13-4-2011 1:00 PM
End Date
13-4-2011 1:30 PM
Keywords
Life Science
Abstract
Social behavior evolves by natural selection only if benefits outweigh costs. A little-studied benefit of group living is transmission of beneficial microbes. Unlike most fishes, convict cichlids have biparental care and contact with offspring that might promote microbial transmission. If parents exhibit division of labor, one may be more likely to transmit microbes. We (1) quantified parental behaviors of males and females to determine whether they differed in amount or type of contact with offspring; (2) collected samples of parental slime coats, embryos and fry to compare the microbes associated with each, comparing samples from subsets of broods receiving parental care to others where parental contact was prevented. Females touched offspring more often than males. Fry receiving parental care bear microbes similar to female vs. male parents, and to parents vs. siblings that did not receive care; thus, parental care is an important source of microbial transmission.
Did Dad Lick the Kids Today? Transmission of Microbes Through Parental Care in a Teleost Fish (Cichlosoma nigrofasciatum).
Kirkhof Center 2216
Social behavior evolves by natural selection only if benefits outweigh costs. A little-studied benefit of group living is transmission of beneficial microbes. Unlike most fishes, convict cichlids have biparental care and contact with offspring that might promote microbial transmission. If parents exhibit division of labor, one may be more likely to transmit microbes. We (1) quantified parental behaviors of males and females to determine whether they differed in amount or type of contact with offspring; (2) collected samples of parental slime coats, embryos and fry to compare the microbes associated with each, comparing samples from subsets of broods receiving parental care to others where parental contact was prevented. Females touched offspring more often than males. Fry receiving parental care bear microbes similar to female vs. male parents, and to parents vs. siblings that did not receive care; thus, parental care is an important source of microbial transmission.