Many studies on humans and rodents have aimed at understanding how maternal care influences the behavior and health of offspring. Because it is hard to separate the effects of maternal behavior itself from effects of the environment, many fundamental questions remain unanswered: To what extent can maternal care itself directly affect the long-term behavior and physiology of offspring? Can maternal care completely or partially overcome environmental stressors? Does maternal care trigger genetic changes in offspring that mediate long-term effects?
Toth and Jeanne will use a new behavioral system to address these questions. Mother paper wasps (Polistes) feed and care for larvae throughout their development. In the process, maternal wasps physically vibrate their larvae by striking their antennae on nest cells. This behavior, which can be simulated using a piezoelectric device, has profound effects on offspring. Vibrated larvae become workers, whereas un-vibrated wasps become queens. This unique system can be used to experimentally dissect how maternal behavior affects offspring.
The researchers will use state-of-the art DNA sequencing methods to characterize what types of genetic changes (e.g. gene activation or chemical DNA modifications) are induced in offspring in response to the interactions of an environmental factor (nutritional stress) and a maternal behavior (vibrations).
This work will provide new information on the extent to which maternal behavior can affect the fate of offspring, how these effects may be modulated by stressors in the environment, and the genetic mechanisms underlying this process. The project will involve the training of a postdoctoral researcher, several undergraduates, and a high school teacher. The results will be disseminated to the scientific community and new insights shared at school and community outreach events.
