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Abstract
Rapid or even anticipatory adaptation to environmental conditions can provide a decisive fitness advantage to an organism. The memory of recurring conditions could also benefit future generations; however, neuronally-encoded behavior isn't thought to be inherited across generations. We tested the possibility that environmentally triggered modifications could allow 'memory' of parental experiences to be inherited. In Drosophila melanogaster, exposure to predatory wasps leads to inheritance of a predisposition for ethanol-rich food for five generations. Inhibition of Neuropeptide-F (NPF) activates germline caspases required for transgenerational ethanol preference. Further, inheritance of low NPF expression in specific regions of F1 brains is required for the transmission of this food preference: a maternally derived NPF locus is necessary for this phenomenon, implicating a maternal epigenetic mechanism of NPF-repression. Given the conserved signaling functions of NPF and its mammalian NPY homolog in drug and alcohol disorders, these observations raise the intriguing possibility of NPY-related transgenerational effects in humans.
Highlights
IntroductionPhilosophers and scientists alike have struggled with this question, and many have settled on the tabula rasa, or blank slate perspective
(NPF) activates germline caspases required for transgenerational ethanol preference
Inheritance of low Neuropeptide F (NPF) expression in specific regions of F1 brains is required for the transmission of this food preference: A maternally derived NPF locus is necessary for this phenomenon, implicating a maternal epigenetic mechanism of NPF-repression
Summary
Philosophers and scientists alike have struggled with this question, and many have settled on the tabula rasa, or blank slate perspective. This long-standing notion posits we are without form or direction until our individual experiences shape us. Children conceived in the Netherlands during the World War II blockade, and ensuing famine, had higher rates of obesity and diabetes (Heijmans et al, 2008; Schulz, 2010; Stein, Susser, Saenger, & Marolla, 1975). Risk factors for children of Holocaust survivors, such as reduced cortisol sensitivity has been linked to methylation state of the glucocorticoid receptor promoter, and increased methylation in offspring was associated with paternal diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder(Yehuda et al, 2014)
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