Transgenerational Effects Research Articles

Accumulation of Nanoplastics in Biomphalaria glabrata Embryos and Transgenerational Developmental Effects

(1) Background: Nanoplastics are emerging environmental pollutants with potential toxic effects on aquatic organisms. This study investigates the toxicity of NPs in Biomphalaria glabrata, a freshwater snail species widely used as a bioindicator species in ecotoxicology studies.; (2) Methods: We exposed three generations (F0–F2) of B. glabrata snail embryos to different sizes of polystyrene nanoparticles and assessed responses.; (3) Results: We observed severe effects on F0 to F2 B. glabrata embryos, including size-dependent (30 to 500 nm) increases in mortality rates, size and dosage-dependent (1 to 100 ppm) effects on hatching rates with concentration-dependent toxicity in the 30 nm exposure group. The F2 generation embryos appear to be most responsive to detoxification (CYP450) and pollutant metabolism (HSP70) at 48-h-post-treatment (HPT), while our developmental marker (MATN1) was highly upregulated at 96-HPT. We also report a particle-size-dependent correlation in HSP70 and CYP450 mRNA expression, as well as enhanced upregulation in the offspring of exposed snails. We also observed significant reductions in hatching rates for F2.; (4) Conclusions: These findings indicate that F2 generation embryos appear to exhibit increased stress from toxic substances inherited from their parents and grandparents (F1 and F0). This study provides valuable insights into the impact of plastic particulate pollution on multiple generations and highlights the importance of monitoring and mitigating plastic waste.

Population size, income and poor sanitation interact to explain widespread streamwater contamination by antidepressants in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo.

The expansion of urban settlements over native environments may expose biodiversity to a host of emerging contaminants, with unintended ecological effects. This study evaluated patterns of contamination of streamwater by antidepressants in the Upper Tietê River Basin, a watershed of high social, economic and environmental relevance for comprising both the largest urban settlement in South America (the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo) and remnants of a globally important biodiversity hotspot (the Atlantic Rainforest). We sampled 53 third-order streams draining catchments regularly distributed across a gradient in urban cover. Antidepressant contamination was found to be widespread. Whereas no antidepressants were detected in any of the 11 streams draining entirely forested catchments, 39 of 42 remaining streams were contaminated with one to eight antidepressant molecules. Concentrations increased monotonically with urban cover and bracketed the entire range found in global freshwaters. Concentrations increased with the number of inhabitants in the catchment and with number of households with no sanitation, but only in catchments with higher mean per capita income. Although concentrations in the range of tens to hundreds of nanograms-per-liter as found may appear to be low, literature data demonstrate effects on individual performance, population growth rates, and even transgenerational effects in which short-term exposure at the embryonic stage may affect life history traits over three generations of descendants. These findings highlight the need to expand sanitation infrastructure and to adopt policies of urban planning that reconcile human settlement with biodiversity conservation in Latin America.

Parental exposure of the freshwater snail Planorbella pilsbryi to copper results in transgenerational effects in offspring.

Although not assessed in standard ecotoxicological tests, exposure to a toxicant that does not result in an observable adverse effect in the parents may lead to transgenerational effects. These are adverse effects observed in unexposed offspring as a result of their parents' exposure to a toxicant. The goal of this study was to investigate whether transgenerational effects are observed in freshwater snails exposed to a toxicant. Using copper (Cu) as a reference toxicant, this study investigated whether the magnitude of exposure to the parents of the freshwater snail Planorbella pilsbryi resulted in a change in sensitivity of juvenile snails to a subsequent aqueous exposure of Cu. This study also investigated whether transgenerational effects observed in juvenile snails born to exposed parents would change if the parents laid eggs after being given time to recover from their exposure to Cu. Juvenile snails born to parents that were exposed to Cu without being given time to recover had no change in their sensitivity to Cu exposure or in some cases they became less sensitive. This study also observed that when parents were given time to recover from the Cu exposure, juvenile snails tended to be more sensitive to a subsequent Cu exposure, that is, decrease in median lethal concentrations for juveniles with an increase adult exposure. This study demonstrates that exposure of parent snails to a toxicant does not necessarily result in a consistent and significant change in sensitivity of the offspring to the same toxicant.

Transgenerational Reproductive and Developmental Toxicity Induced by N-Nitrosodimethylamine and Its Metabolite Formaldehyde in Drosophila melanogaster.

N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) is a known water disinfection byproduct (DBP) characterized as a potent hepatotoxin, promutagen, and probable human carcinogen; this is because of the metabolites associated with its biotransformation. The metabolism of NDMA produces formaldehyde, another alkylating agent and DBP. Both compounds are generated from natural and anthropogenic sources, but the safety restrictions applied to NDMA do not extend to the uses of formaldehyde. Hence, potential health and ecological risks are of concern. Due to limited information on the long-term effects of exposure to these compounds at environmentally relevant concentrations, this work aimed to compare the transgenerational reproductive and developmental toxicity of separate exposures to NDMA or its metabolite formaldehyde in Drosophila melanogaster over four generations. The parental flies were fed NDMA or formaldehyde (1.19E-06 to 5 mM) for 48 h during the third larval instar. Subsequent offspring (F1-F3) were grown under compound-free conditions. In the parental generation, both exposures modified the time to emergence and reduced the number of progenies. NDMA, but not formaldehyde, was lethal, affected fertility, and weakly induced malformations. In the next generations, both exposures induced malformed flies and modified the number of offspring. Reproductive toxicity and malformations were maintained for at least three generations, suggesting that detrimental effects could extend to unexposed offspring. This is the first study reporting the associated individual transgenerational effects on reproduction and development between NDMA and its metabolite formaldehyde in D. melanogaster, highlighting the relevance of evaluating multiple generations to accurately determine the health and environmental risks of pollutants.

Maternal Social Phobia, but not Generalized Anxiety, Symptoms Interact with Early Childhood Error-Related Negativity to Prospectively Predict Child Anxiety Symptoms.

The error-related negativity (ERN) has been called a putative neural marker of anxiety risk in children, with smaller ERN amplitudes denoting greater risk in early childhood. Children of anxious mothers are at elevated risk for anxiety problems compared to children of non-anxious mothers. Still unknown is whether discrete maternal symptoms interact with child ERN to predict different forms of child anxiety risk, knowledge ofwhich could increase our understanding of the specificity of known conditions and pathways for transgenerational effects. Targeting two of the most prevalent forms of anxiety problems across children and adults, we tested whether maternal generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and social phobia (SP) symptoms when children were 3 years old interacted with child ERN at age 4 years to predict child symptoms of overanxiousness and separation anxiety at age 5 years. We found that greater maternal SP, but not GAD, symptoms along with smaller (i.e., less negative) child ERN predicted more separation anxiety and overanxious symptoms in children, suggesting some specificity in prediction but less specificity in outcomes regarding the transmission of anxiety risk from mothers to offspring.

Paternal response to novel predator exposure correlates with transgenerational response in offspring of threespined stickleback.

Parental experiences can alter offspring phenotypes via transgenerational plasticity (TGP), which may prime offspring to adaptively respond to novel stressors, including novel predators. However, we know little about the types of sensory cues (e.g. visual, olfactory) that parents use to recognize novel predators and the consequences for offspring. Individuals may respond to novel cues if they mimic historical cues or they may need multiple sensory cues to recognize and respond to novel stimuli. We exposed threespined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) males to a full factorial of visual and olfactory cues of a novel trout predator prior to fertilization and tested offspring for antipredator behaviour and survival against a live predator. Fathers exposed to visual cues oriented more to and spent time closer to the novel predator post-exposure on the first day. Paternal response to visual cues was echoed in their offspring: offspring of fathers exposed to visual cues were caught faster by a live predator, suggesting that multiple cues are not needed to induce a transgenerational effect. While visual cues elicited responses both within- and transgenerationally, they do not seem to result in adaptive priming in offspring, suggesting the possibility of maladaptive TGP in response to novel cues of predation risk.

Mechanistic insights into ferroptosis and apoptosis pathways: Synergistic effects of multi-organ toxicity and transgenerational effects induced by co-exposure of epoxiconazole and aflatoxin B1 in zebrafish.

In the environment, mycotoxins and fungicides frequently coexist, potentially causing synergistic risks to organisms. Epoxiconazole (EPO) and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) are a common fungicide and mycotoxins, respectively, which are widely present in the environment and have toxic effects on multiple organs once entering the organism, but it is still unclear whether the co-exposure has a synergistic toxic effect. This study delves into the molecular mechanisms underlying the co-exposure to EPO and AFB1, emphasizing multi-organ toxicity in female zebrafish (F0 generation) and potential transgenerational impacts on the offspring embryos (F1 generation) through multi-omics approaches. Findings indicate that exposure to either EPO or AFB1, individually or combined, intensified intestinal pathological damage, decreased the expression of tight junction proteins, altered gut microbiota composition, and induced intestinal inflammation, with co-exposure causing more severe effects. RNA-seq analysis revealed an enrichment of ferroptosis and apoptosis pathways in the liver and ovaries of F0 zebrafish. Co-exposure markedly altered the expression of associated molecules, exacerbating pathological damage in these organs. Molecular docking studies revealed that AFB1 exhibited lower binding energies to Caspase3, GPX4 and IL-1β compared to EPO, suggesting that it may have a higher binding capacity. Furthermore, both single and combined exposures modified the expression of molecules related to apoptosis, inflammatory response, and ferroptosis in unexposed F1 embryos, with co-exposure demonstrating more significant biological effects, thereby confirming transgenerational toxicity. The present study provides preliminary evidence on the potential mechanisms of combined exposure-induced multi-organ toxicity, highlighting ferroptosis of the liver and apoptosis of the ovary as key pathways. These findings provide new perspectives and methods for risk assessment of multiple environmental pollutants.

Maternal Daphnia magna exposure to the antidepressant sertraline causes molting disorder, multi-generational reproductive and serotonergic dysfunction

Sertraline, one of the most commonly used antidepressants, has exhibited a progressively escalating trend in usage over the course of the last decades years, which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, this study assessed the transgenerational effects of sertraline on the aquatic microcrustacean Daphnia magna, a parthenogenetic model species. The parental D. magna (G0) were exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations of sertraline (0.1 and 10 μg/L) for 21 days at individual and population level, and observed exposure triggered specific increased fecundity and desynchronized molting. These alterations were partially inherited through three subsequent non-exposed generations (G1, G2, and G3), as evidenced by increased fecundity and disordered molting in G1, reduced fecundity in G2, and reduced body size of G3-offspring. The molt-related genes neverland 1 and hormone receptor 3 were significantly different to the control group simultaneously only in the exposed generation, which may well be responsible for the molting asynchrony. Vitellogenin plays an important role in reproduction, and our results indicate that its abnormal expression persists up to G3, which was highly correlated with the expression of serotonin transporter, the drug target of sertraline. This finding suggested that sertraline possesses a sustained reproductive toxicity and disrupting potential and may be associated with serotonin dysregulation caused by compensatory feedback of serotonin transporter. In combination with male birth and upregulation of doublesex and vitellogenin, sertraline was deemed to trigger a self-defense response of D. magna, known as “abandon-ship” by increasing reproductive inputs. However, no males was found in individual reproduction test in each generation, which may suggest some interaction between sertraline and population density. Our findings emphasize that the toxic effects of sertraline can be transferred to unexposed generations, even with different adverse consequences, implying that future studies need to focus on transgenerational delayed effects and the underlying mechanisms.

Insights into organophosphorus insecticide malathion induced reproductive toxicity and intergenerational effect in zebrafish (Danio rerio).

The reproductive and transgenerational effects of malathion, a widely utilized low-toxicity organophosphorus insecticide, were explored using zebrafish as model animal. Adult zebrafish (F0) were exposed to malathion at 0.1-1.0mg/L for 60days for exploring the reproductive toxicity in sex differences and the potential mechanisms, and development and transcription levels in F1 offspring were assessed. Malathion significantly suppressed the fertility of zebrafish as evidenced by reduced spawning and lower fertilization rates in F1 offspring. Abnormal gonadal development and steroid hormone disorders were observed in F0 zebrafish, which was associated with the alterations in the transcription of core genes (such as cyp11a, cyp19a, vtg1, era) along the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad-liver (HPGL) axis. The expression level of vtg1 played a key role in the malathion-induced sex dependence on E2 and VTG levels. The reduction of E2 and VTG could disrupt ovarian capability in females. E2 excess would cause feminization in males. Molecular docking indicated that reproductive disorders induced by malathion in zebrafish mainly through estrogen-like effects and CYP11A antagonism. Parental exposure to malathion abnormalized embryonic development in F1 offspring, comprising heartbeats decrease, deformities and body length reduction. Transcriptomics suggested that malathion-induced reproductive toxicity could be transmitted across generations, which may adversely affect fish populations.

Observational methods for human studies of transgenerational effects

ABSTRACT There are substantial challenges in studying human transgenerational epigenetic outcomes resulting from environmental conditions. The task requires specialized methods and tools that incorporate specific knowledge of multigenerational relationship combinations of probands and their ancestors, phenotype data for individuals, environmental information of ancestors and their descendants, which can span historical to present datasets, and informative environmental data that chronologically aligns with ancestors and descendants over space and time. As a result, there are few epidemiologic studies of potential transgenerational effects in human populations, thus limiting the knowledge of ancestral environmental conditions and the potential impacts we face with modern human health outcomes. In an effort to overcome some of the challenges in studying human transgenerational effects, we present two transgenerational study designs: transgenerational space-time cluster detection and transgenerational case-control study design. Like other epidemiological methods, these methods determine whether there are statistical associations between phenotypic outcomes (e.g., adverse health outcomes) among probands and the shared environments and environmental factors facing their ancestors. When the ancestor is a paternal grandparent, a statistically significant association provides some evidence that a transgenerational inheritable factor may be involved. Such results may generate useful hypotheses that can be explored using epigenomic data to establish conclusive evidence of transgenerational heritable effects. Both methods are proband-centric: They are designed around the phenotype of interest in the proband generation for case selection and family pedigree creation. In the examples provided, we incorporate at least three generations of paternal lineage in both methods to observe a potential transgenerational effect.

Paternal Zinc Deficiency and Its Transgenerational Effects on Zinc Transporters in Drosophila.

The nutritional status of fathers plays a significant role in influencing the growth, metabolism, and susceptibility to diseases in their offspring. Paternal zinc deficiency can lead to developmental programming effects on the offspring's zinc homeostasis. This study investigated the effects of paternal zinc deficiency on the zinc homeostasis of offspring in a Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) model. Male flies were reared on a diet supplemented with a zinc-chelator, N,N,N',N'-Tetrakis(2-pyridylmethyl)ethylenediamine (TPEN), from the egg stage until adulthood, and their offspring were subsequently reared on a normal diet for 7 d. Body zinc status and zinc transporters were assessed afterwards. The results indicated that the prenatal zinc deficiency significantly lowered total body zinc levels (p<0.05) compared to the controls. Additionally, the mRNA levels of zinc transporters, dZip42C.1, dZnT63C, and dZnT35C, were lower in the zinc-deficient male parents (p<0.05) and their male offspring (p<0.05). These findings suggested that paternal zinc deficiency can alter offspring zinc homeostasis, even when the offspring was fed a zinc-sufficient diet. This is an important finding, as zinc is an essential nutrient that is required for a variety of bodily functions. Further research is needed to better understand the mechanisms by which zinc deficiency in the male parent affects the health of the offspring and to develop strategies to prevent this from happening.

Terror catastrophizing: association with anxiety, depression, and transgenerational effects

ABSTRACT Background & Objectives: Terror catastrophizing, defined as an ongoing fear of future terrorist attacks, is associated with a higher incidence of anxiety disorders, among other psychological impacts. However, previous studies examining terror catastrophizing’s relationship to other mental health disorders are limited. The current study sought to determine if patients diagnosed with anxiety and depression would experience increased terror catastrophizing. Additionally, this study aimed to investigate whether parental terror catastrophizing increases children’s internalizing symptoms. Design & Methods: Individuals were randomly drawn from the Danish Civil Registration System and invited to complete a series of questionnaires to measure terror catastrophizing tendency, lifetime parental trauma, and children’s internalizing symptoms. In total, n = 4,175 invitees completed the survey of which 933 reported on a child between 6 and 18 years. Responses were analyzed using a generalized linear regression model. Results: Participants diagnosed with anxiety alone or comorbid with depression were more likely to experience symptoms of terror catastrophizing than undiagnosed participants (β = 0.10, p < .001; β = 0.07, p = .012). Furthermore, the parental tendency to catastrophize terror was associated with higher internalizing symptoms in children (β = 0.09, p = .006), even after taking parental diagnoses, as well as lifetime and childhood trauma into account. Conclusion: The results can inform clinical practices to account for a patient’s potential to exhibit increased terror catastrophizing tendencies or be more affected by traumatic events. Additionally, they can offer insights for designing novel preventative interventions for the whole family, due to the relation between parental tendencies for terror catastrophizing and the internalizing symptoms observed in children.

Direct and transgenerational effects of simvastatin on the metabolism of the amphipod Gammarus locusta.

In this study, untargeted Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) metabolomics was applied for the first time, to our knowledge, to assess the metabolic impact of direct and transgenerational exposure (F0 and F3 generations, respectively) of amphipods Gammarus locusta to simvastatin (SIM), a pharmaceutical widely prescribed for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. Results revealed the important gender-dependent nature of each of these effects. Directly exposed males showed enhanced glucose catabolism and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle activity, in tandem with adaptations in osmotic regulation and glyoxylate metabolism. Exposed females exhibited only a small osmoregulatory effect. It is suggested that the response of exposed males may reflect reported high levels of methyl farnesoate hormone (low levels in females) and alterations in apical factors, namely decreased growth. Conversely, transgenerational effects were identified only in females, with impact on energy metabolism (glycolysis and TCA cycle enhancement) and osmoregulatory response. This expresses the ability of female gametes to transmit the effects of direct SIM exposure. Such effects were putatively related to reported delayed maturation and transcriptomic deviations impacting on carbohydrate and lipid metabolisms, possibly specifically engaging phenylalanine/tyrosine and choline in dopamine and choline metabolisms. These findings reflect the importance of untargeted metabolomics in addressing not only direct exposure of contaminants, but also their transgenerational effects, potentially contributing towards improving hazard and risk assessment of biologically active compounds.

Transgenerational Effects of Atrazine on Daphnia magna Based on Life-History Traits and Population Dynamics

Transgenerational Effects of Atrazine on Daphnia magna Based on Life-History Traits and Population Dynamics

Trans-generational effects of spinetoram on biological traits of Spodoptera frugiperda

Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) is the invasive pest of maize (Zea mays L.) and spinetoram is the novel insecticide used mainly against lepidopteran pests. The experiment was conducted during 2022, 2023 and 2024 at ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi to comprehend the sub-lethal and trans-generational effects of spinetoram (Delegate® 11.7% sc) at LC10 and LC25 against S. frugiperda. The leaf dip bioassay findings indicated that spinetoram exhibited notable toxicity with the LC50 of 0.157 ppm. Exposure of sub-lethal doses of spinetoram on parental generation (F0) revealed that there are trans-generational deleterious effects on biology and lifetable parameters of S. frugiperda where the adverse effects were significantly hampering in the F0 and F1 whereas the F2 generation was found to be free of it. LC 10 and LC 25 of spinetoram significantly diminished biological attributes including rate of pupation, adult hatching, fecundity, longevity of adult, weight of larval and pupa and concurrently increased deformed adults and the duration of the larval and pupal stages. The lifetable parameters such as net reproductive rate (R0), intrinsic rate of increase (r), finite rate of increase (λ) were decreased significantly in F0 and F1 generations. Moreover, these sub-lethal doses of spinetoram had significant decreased nutritional indices and considerably increased detoxification enzymatic activities like C-P450 and GST. It is inferred that, spinetoram exerted deleterious sub-lethal and trans-generational effects on the S. frugiperda population by impairing its survival, development and reproduction.

Transgenerational neurotoxic effects of triphenyltin on marine medaka: Impaired dopaminergic system function

Triphenyltin (TPT), a widely used environmental contaminant in antifouling paints, is known for its neurotoxic effects. To investigate the multigenerational impacts of long-term exposure (6 weeks) to environmental concentrations of TPT (100 ng/L) on either parent, we performed mixed mating between control and exposed groups (males or females). Although there was no direct contact with TPT in the subsequent generations, both the first and second generations displayed behavioral abnormalities, including reduced activity and impaired cognitive function, with pronounced gender differences and anxiety-like behaviors. Females were more susceptible than males, displaying a significantly increased time spent in the mirror-proximal zone in both F1 and F2 generations. Additionally, F0 females exhibited a marked reduction in the time spent in the bright area, further supporting the role of sex differences in behavioral responses. Notably, the maternal contribution of marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma) played a more significant role in the inheritance of TPT-induced cognitive deficits. A reduction in DA levels and AChE activity was observed across generations, regardless of gender, underscoring the critical role of DA-AChE balance in maintaining cognitive function. Additionally, gender differences and the hereditary effects of TPT exposure on anxiety-like behaviors were strongly associated with the transcriptional regulation of pparγ and gst. Impaired transcription of key genes in the dopaminergic system resulted in reduced DA levels, with the intergenerational transmission of mao being closely linked to behavioral impairments. In summary, TPT-induced neurotoxicity presents both hereditary effects and gender-specific differences, emphasizing the maternal influence in the inheritance of cognitive abilities and shedding light on the genetic impact of parental exposure.

Transgenerational Impacts of Oxidative Damage Induced by Prenatal Ethanol Exposure on Spatial Learning/Memory and BDNF in the Hippocampus of Male Rats

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy harms fetal development, leading to various physical and behavioral issues. This study investigates how prenatal ethanol exposure triggers oxidative stress (OS) and affects neurotrophic factors (NTFs), particularly brain-derived growth factor (BDNF) gene expression in the hippocampus, influencing learning and memory decline across two generations of male offspring from ethanol-exposed female rats. A rat model of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) was initially generated to reflect on the deficits in the first generation, and then those transmitted via the male germline to the unexposed male ones. The pregnant rats were thus divided into four groups, namely, the control group (CTRL) receiving only distilled water (DW), and three groups being exposed to ethanol (20 %, 4.5 g/kg) by oral gavage, during the first 10-day gestation (FG), the second 10-day gestation (SG), and the entire gestation (EG) periods. Subsequent Morris water maze (MWM) tests on male offspring revealed spatial learning deficits during the second and entire gestational periods in both generations. Analysis of antioxidant enzyme activity including glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and malondialdehyde (MDA), and BDNF gene expression in the hippocampus further highlighted the impacts of prenatal ethanol exposure. The study results demonstrated that prenatal ethanol exposure caused spatial learning/memory deficits during the SG and EG, altered antioxidant enzyme activity, and reduced BDNF gene expression in both generations. The findings underscore the role of OS in developmental and behavioral issues in FASD rat models and suggest that lasting transgenerational effects in the second generation may stem from alcohol-induced changes.

Interactions between migration and immunity among oriental armyworm populations infected with the insect pathogenic fungus, Beauveria bassiana.

Migration and immunity are behavioral and physiological traits that protect organisms from environmental stressors or pathogen infection. Shifting from migration to residency has become more common in some wildlife populations owing to environmental changes. However, other biological shifts, such as interactions between migration and immunity among populations within a species are largely unexplored for many agricultural migratory pests. In the field, entomopathogenic fungi infection and transmission, particularly Beauveria bassiana, can cause reduced fitness and population declines across a broad range of insect species. Here, we investigated migration-immunity interactions between migrant and resident populations of the oriental armyworm, Mythimna separata, infected with B. bassiana (the sole fungus used in this work). We found that migratory M. separata exerted stronger pathogen resistance, faster development and lower pupal weight than residents. High-dose infections (5.0 × 105 and 5.0 × 106 conidia mL-1) led to seriously decreased reproductive capacity in migrants and residents. Low-dose infections (1.0 × 104 and 5.0 × 104 conidia mL-1) led to significantly increased host flight capacities. Consecutive flight tests showed that five flight nights inhibited the reproduction of paternal infected M. separata populations. The flights also led to far-reaching transgenerational impairment of larval development and immune defense among offspring populations. By contrast, two flight nights enhanced the reproductive capacities of both M. separata populations and did not exert negative transgenerational effects on offspring populations, which may facilitate migration. This study provides insights into interactions between migration and immunity among M. separata populations. These insights will guide development of future monitoring and management technologies of this pest. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Transgenerational effects of imidacloprid on Sclerodermus alternatusi (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae) based on age-stage, two-sex life table.

Imidacloprid is a widely used insecticide for controlling piercing-sucking pests. However, its impact on nontarget insects must not be ignored. In this study, we assessed the effects of sublethal dose of imidacloprid on Sclerodermus alternatusi (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae), which is an important predator of many pests. The data indicate that imidacloprid at LD10 (0.1468 ng active ingredient per insect) and LD30 (0.2376 ng active ingredient per insect) significantly reduced the longevity and fecundity of the F0 generation of S. alternatusi. However, the adult female longevity of the F1 generation of the LD10 dose group showed a significant increase, and the LD30 dose group showed a nonsignificant increase. The study found that as the imidacloprid dose increased, the intrinsic rate of increase (r) decreased, while the mean generation time (T) increased. The imidacloprid groups also showed a decrease in age-stage specific survival rate (Sxj) and age-specific survival rate (lx). However, the female age-specific survival rate (fx4) showed an increasing and then decreasing trend for all treatments. The study found that imidacloprid had an impact on the longevity of S. alternatusi in the F0 generation and extended the mean generation time (T) in the F1 generation. However, it had negative effects on population growth parameters. These findings can be used as a basis for developing integrated pest management strategies.

Cis- and trans-regulatory contributions to a hierarchy of factors influencing gene expression variation

Gene expression variation results from numerous sources including genetic, environmental, life stage, and even the environment experienced by previous generations. While the importance of each has been demonstrated in diverse organisms, their relative contributions remain understudied because few investigations have simultaneously determined each within a single experiment. Here we quantified genome-wide gene expression traits in Drosophila, quantified the contribution of multiple different sources of trait variation and determined the molecular mechanisms underlying observed variation. Our results show that there is a clear hierarchy in our data with genome and developmental stage contributing on average considerably more than current and finally previous generation environmental effects. We also determined the role of cis and trans-regulatory changes across different sources of trait variation, highlighting their importance in adaptation and environmental responses and showing unexpectedly that transgenerational effects herein were predominantly associated with changes in trans-regulation.