Dormant plasticity of rotifer diapausing eggs in response to predator kairomones

Abstract

In freshwater ecosystems, hatching strategy of diapausing eggs (DEs) under predation risk has important ecological implication for zooplankters. Although kairomones released by predators can induce phenotypic responses of prey, hatching patterns of DEs in response to kairomones have received contradictory conclusions in zooplankters. Maternal environment may also affect hatching strategy of DEs during predator–prey interactions. We used classical Brachionus calyciflorus – Asplanchna models to determine the timing and proportion of DE hatching in association with parental and embryonic exposure to kairomones. Results obtained from two Brachionus clones supported the hypothesis that DEs could detect Asplanchna kairomones and adjust hatching patterns. DEs showed early and synchronous hatching patterns in the environment with kairomones. Data also supported the prediction that DEs could gain information about predators from maternal environments and adjusted their hatching pattern in response to the presence of kairomones. Compared with DEs from Brachionus mothers not exposed to kairomones, DEs produced by mothers that were experienced with kairomones attained a higher hatching rate when both of them hatched in the environment either with or without kairomones. Our results suggest that DEs of B . calyciflorus possess dormant plasticity to defend against predation from Asplanchna , which may be regulated by maternal environmental effects during sexual life cycles.