Embryonic methionine triggers post-natal developmental programming in Japanese quail

• Published in: Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology, 2024-04, Vol.194 (2), p.179-189
• Main Authors: Ndunguru, Sawadi F., Reda, Gebrehaweria K., Csernus, Brigitta, Knop, Renáta, Gulyás, Gabriella, Szabó, Csaba, Czeglédi, Levente, Lendvai, Ádám Z.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal Physiology; Animals; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Coturnix - embryology; Coturnix - genetics; Coturnix - growth & development; Coturnix - metabolism; Eggs; Embryo, Nonmammalian; Embryogenesis; Embryonic Development - drug effects; Embryonic growth stage; Female; Growth factors; Hatching; Human Physiology; Insulin; Insulin - blood; Insulin - metabolism; Insulin-like growth factor I; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I - genetics; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I - metabolism; Insulin-like growth factors; Kinases; Life Sciences; Liver - metabolism; Maternal effects; Methionine; Methionine - administration & dosage; Methionine - pharmacology; Offspring; Original Paper; Phenotypes; Phenotypic plasticity; Rapamycin; Signal Transduction; TOR protein; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases - genetics; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases - metabolism; Zoology
• ISSN: 0174-1578; 1432-136X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00360-024-01542-8

Embryonic development is one of the most sensitive and critical stages when maternal effects may influence the offspring’s phenotype. In birds and other oviparous species, embryonic development is confined to the eggs, therefore females must deposit resources into the eggs to prepare the offspring for the prevailing post-natal conditions. However, the mechanisms of such phenotypic adjustments remain poorly understood. We simulated a maternal nutritional transfer by injecting 1 mg of l -methionine solution into Japanese quail eggs before the onset of incubation. The increase in early methionine concentration in eggs activated the insulin/insulin-like signalling and mechanistic target of rapamycin (IIS/mTOR) signalling pathways and affected post-natal developmental trajectories. Chicks from methionine-supplemented eggs had higher expression of liver IGF1 and mTOR genes at hatching but were similar in size, and the phenotypic effects of increased growth became apparent only a week later and remained up to three weeks. Circulating levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and expression of ribosomal protein serine 6 kinase 1 ( RPS6K1), the mTOR downstream effector, were elevated only three weeks after hatching. These results show that specific nutritional cues may have phenotypic programming effects by sequentially activating specific nutrient-sensing pathways and achieving transgenerational phenotypic plasticity.