Presentation Details
HCR characterizes feeding integration center and feeding-parental care tradeoffs in threespine sticklebacks.

Jenna Rosas, Tina Barbasch, Alison Bell.

University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

Abstract


Parental care places substantial energetic demands on animals, yet some parents reduce feeding while sustaining offspring care. The threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) offers a useful system, as parenting males show decreased appetite and weight loss during care. We tested whether changes in appetite reflect shifts in melanocortin system activity, where appetite-regulating neuronal populations modulate feeding and parental behavior. Using a high-throughput in situ hybridization chain reaction (HCR) approach, we identified these neurons and manipulated hunger signals by injecting parenting and non-parenting males with saline or liraglutide (a GLP-1 receptor agonist). We found reproductive state-dependent differences in response to liraglutide, suggesting that non-parenting males are less sensitive to satiety signals. We also compared neural activity patterns to test whether liraglutide activates appetite-suppressing neurons and inhibits appetite-stimulating neurons in parenting males. Combined, results from this study will provide insight into how parents manage the energetic demands of parenthood and what the consequences are for parental behavior and fitness.

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