Calcium Availability Influences Litter Size and Sex Ratio in White-Footed Mice (Peromyscus leucopus) 英文参考文献.docVIP

CalciumAvailabilityInfluencesLitterSizeandSexRatio inWhite-FootedMice(Peromyscusleucopus) ChristinaM.Schmidt*,WendyR.Hood DepartmentofBiologicalSciences,AuburnUniversity,AuburnAlabama,UnitedStatesofAmerica Abstract Theproductionofoffspringtypicallyrequiresinvestmentofresourcesderivedfromboththeenvironmentandmaternal somaticreserves.Assuch,theavailabilityofeitherofthesetypesofresourceshasthepotentialtolimitthedegreetowhich resources are allocated to reproduction. Theory and empirical studies have argued that mothers modify reproductive performance relative to exogenous resource availability and maternal condition by adjusting size, number or sex of offspringproduced.Theserelationshipshaveclassicallybeendefinedrelativetoavailabilityofenergysources;however,in vertebrates,calcium also playsacritical rolein offspring production, as aconsiderable amount ofcalcium is required to support the development of offspring skeleton(s). We tested whether the availability of calcium influences reproductive output by providing female white-footed mice with a low-calcium or standard diet from reproductive maturity to senescence.Wethencomparedmaternalskeletalconditionandreproductiveoutput,basedonoffspringmass,offspring number and litter sex ratio, between dietary treatments. Mothers on the low-calcium diet exhibited diminished skeletal condition at senescence and produced smaller and strongly female-biased litters. We show that skeletal condition and calciumintakecaninfluencesexratioandreproductiveoutputfollowinggeneraltheoreticalmodelsofresourcepartitioning duringreproduction. Citation: Schmidt CM, Hood WR (2012) Calcium AvailabilityInfluences Litter Size and Sex Ratio in White-Footed Mice (Peromyscus leucopus). PLoS ONE 7(8): e41402.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0041402 Editor:PaulA.Bartell,PennsylvaniaStateUniversity,UnitedStatesofAmerica ReceivedJanuary12,2012;AcceptedJune25,2012;PublishedAugust1,2012 Copyright: ? 2012 Schmidt, Hood. This is an open-access article distributed under t