Low-oxygen conditions(hypoxia;<21%O_(2))are considered unfavorable for growth;yet,embryos of many vertebrate taxa develop successfully in hypoxic subterranean environments.Although enhanced tolerance to hypoxia has...Low-oxygen conditions(hypoxia;<21%O_(2))are considered unfavorable for growth;yet,embryos of many vertebrate taxa develop successfully in hypoxic subterranean environments.Although enhanced tolerance to hypoxia has been demonstrated in adult reptiles,such as in the painted turtle(Chrysemys picta),its effects on sensitive embryo life stages warrant attention.We tested the hypothesis that short-term hypoxia negatively affects growth during day 40 of development in C.picta,when O_(2) demands are highest in embryos.A brief,but severe,hypoxic event(5%O_(2) for 0.5 h)moderately affected embryo growth,causing a 13%reduction in mass(relative to a normoxic control).The same condition had no effect during day 27;instead,a nearly anoxic event(1%O_(2) for 72 h)caused a 5%mass reduction.All embryos survived the egg incubation period.Our study supports the assumption that reptilian embryos are resilient to intermittently low O_(2) in subterranean nests.Further work is needed to ascertain responses to suboptimal O_(2) levels while undergoing dynamic changes in developmental physiology.展开更多
基金funded in part by graduate student research awards from the ISU-EEOB and NSF grant DEB-1242510(to F.Janzen)J.C.Svendsen was supported by grant SFRH/BPD/89473/2012 from the Foundation for Science and Technology in Portugal.
文摘Low-oxygen conditions(hypoxia;<21%O_(2))are considered unfavorable for growth;yet,embryos of many vertebrate taxa develop successfully in hypoxic subterranean environments.Although enhanced tolerance to hypoxia has been demonstrated in adult reptiles,such as in the painted turtle(Chrysemys picta),its effects on sensitive embryo life stages warrant attention.We tested the hypothesis that short-term hypoxia negatively affects growth during day 40 of development in C.picta,when O_(2) demands are highest in embryos.A brief,but severe,hypoxic event(5%O_(2) for 0.5 h)moderately affected embryo growth,causing a 13%reduction in mass(relative to a normoxic control).The same condition had no effect during day 27;instead,a nearly anoxic event(1%O_(2) for 72 h)caused a 5%mass reduction.All embryos survived the egg incubation period.Our study supports the assumption that reptilian embryos are resilient to intermittently low O_(2) in subterranean nests.Further work is needed to ascertain responses to suboptimal O_(2) levels while undergoing dynamic changes in developmental physiology.
