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Prenatal Stress As A Potential Adaptive Modulator Of Offspring Survival, Phenotype, And Performance In Response To Elevated Temperatures, Theresa Renee Warriner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Climate change is increasing global water temperatures, and by altering temperatures, is subsequently impacting aquatic life, particularly ectothermic fish. When mothers encounter environmental stressors such as elevated temperatures during follicular recruitment (maternal stress), resultant offspring often have altered phenotypes. Recent studies suggest that this maternal stress signal may prepare offspring for a similarly stressful environment (environmental match). I applied the environmental match hypothesis to investigate whether a maternal stress signal can prepare offspring to cope in a stressful environment. Specifically, I exposed Lake Ontario Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) eggs to a biologically relevant maternal stress signal (1000ng/mL cortisol …