NERC Doctoral Training Partnership
ACCE: Adapting to the Challenges of a Changing Environment
Trans-generational effects of environmental stressors in fish
Supervisors:
Kathryn Arnold & Karen Thorpe (University of York), Lynne Sneddon
(University of Liverpool) & Gloria Pereira (CEH, Lancaster)
Experiencing
the appropriate conditions for the growth and development of the
offspring is an important aspect of an individual’s success. Numerous
examples illustrate the extent to which the same genotype can produce
very different phenotypes depending on the early developmental
conditions. One of the most interesting recent conundrums posed is the
extent to which environmentally-induced phenotypic change is adaptive.
Sometimes this may be clear, if it maximizes immediate survival of
young. In other cases, further proof of the adaptive significance is
required. Consequently, we need to establish how environmentally-induced
phenotype changes occur and their impacts on fitness.
Understanding
the interplay between rearing environment and fitness is of applied
relevance in the face of rapid human-mediated environmental change.
Aquatic organisms are exposed to many anthropogenic challenges during
development, including changes in food availability, temperature and
chemical contaminants, including pharmaceuticals. Unmetabolised drugs,
including antidepressants, have been shown to be excreted into sewage
and end up being discharged unchanged into rivers and streams. Many
studies have demonstrated effects on the behaviour, physiology and
reproductive traits of fish exposed to antidepressants. However, the
capacity of antidepressants in the environment to affect the phenotype
of offspring and grand-offspring, i.e. to have trans-generational
effects, remains to be tested.
This
studentship will investigate how exposure of parents to relatively low
concentrations of a chemical contaminant, the antidepressant fluoxetine
(also known as Prozac), affects the phenotype of future generations. To
date it has been assumed that the changes in behaviour and physiology
observed in response to low doses of fluoxetine are maladaptive, but
this remains to be tested.
In
aquaria, parental fish will be experimentally exposed to
environmentally relevant concentrations of fluoxetine. This
antidepressant modulates biochemical changes in the brain associated
with anxiety and stress, but can also affect appetite and activity
levels. Using a standard breeding design the student will investigate
whether, compared with controls, offspring and grand-offspring of
parents exposed to fluoxetine:
1) Experience changes to survival, physiology and behaviour;
2)
Show different patterns of neuronal activity in the brain correlated
with important behaviours such as prey capture and predator avoidance.
3) Perform differently when exposed to stressors such as fluoxetine, predator risk and food shortages.
Experimental
data on the transgenerational effects of fluoxetine will then be
analysed within an evolutionary framework. Our model-fish system can
then be used to make predictions concerning the long term impacts of
pharmaceuticals in the environment. This studentship will suit someone
wishing to gain experience in applied aquatic ecology, ecotoxicology
and/or behavioural ecology.
Email Kathryn.Arnold@york.ac.uk for more information or to make informal enquiries.
For how to apply see: http://www.york.ac.uk/environment/postgraduate/nercdtp/
Deadline 11th January 2016
--
Dr Kathryn Arnold,
Senior Lecturer,
Environment Dept,
University of York,
York YO10 5DD, UK
Tel: (44) 01904 322997
Twitter: @KateArnold14