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<p>Environmental fluctuations are a pervasive natural phenomenon that typically favor diverse maternal investment strategies. Organisms across various evolutionary lineages have acquired the ability to enter the dormancy state to tolerate conditions that are unsuitable for normal life activities. In cyclical parthenogenesis, sexual reproduction is generally linked with dormancy, thereby enhancing the long-term fitness of populations through positive feedback mechanisms. This study evaluates the impact of environmental variability on offspring population dynamics through sexual reproduction in the rotifer <i>Brachionus calyciflorus</i>. We found that mictic females (sexual females) exposed to low-predictability environments produced resting eggs with a sporadic hatching pattern, reduced hatching rate, and smaller sizes of resting egg, embryo, and stem females, while increasing variations in fertilization among individuals to maximize population fitness. Variations in population growth could be manifested in enhanced reproductive capacity 2–3 d post-hatching, along with differences in fecundity among individuals. This suggests that dormant eggs from unstable environments may prioritize offspring survival and adjust to increased fertilization among individuals. This adaptive strategy enables rotifer populations to rapidly adjust to environmental changes, thus avoiding extinction and thriving in diverse habitats. Our systematic study enhances the understanding of how environmental stability affects long-term population fitness in cyclical parthenogens.</p>

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Environmental stability via sexual reproduction of cyclical parthenogenetic rotifers affects offspring’s population performances: maternal effects on population dynamics

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年8月8日

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  • Huanhuan Xu,
  • Yingying Ge,
  • Kangning Liu,
  • Cuijuan Niu

摘要

Environmental fluctuations are a pervasive natural phenomenon that typically favor diverse maternal investment strategies. Organisms across various evolutionary lineages have acquired the ability to enter the dormancy state to tolerate conditions that are unsuitable for normal life activities. In cyclical parthenogenesis, sexual reproduction is generally linked with dormancy, thereby enhancing the long-term fitness of populations through positive feedback mechanisms. This study evaluates the impact of environmental variability on offspring population dynamics through sexual reproduction in the rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus. We found that mictic females (sexual females) exposed to low-predictability environments produced resting eggs with a sporadic hatching pattern, reduced hatching rate, and smaller sizes of resting egg, embryo, and stem females, while increasing variations in fertilization among individuals to maximize population fitness. Variations in population growth could be manifested in enhanced reproductive capacity 2–3 d post-hatching, along with differences in fecundity among individuals. This suggests that dormant eggs from unstable environments may prioritize offspring survival and adjust to increased fertilization among individuals. This adaptive strategy enables rotifer populations to rapidly adjust to environmental changes, thus avoiding extinction and thriving in diverse habitats. Our systematic study enhances the understanding of how environmental stability affects long-term population fitness in cyclical parthenogens.