The Lansing effect in Lemna turionifera (Lemnoideae) and potential contributing factors

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dc.contributor.authorDutt, Priyanka
dc.contributor.authorUniversity of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science
dc.contributor.supervisorLaird, Robert A.
dc.date.accessioned2023-06-02T17:11:21Z
dc.date.available2023-06-02T17:11:21Z
dc.date.issued2023
dc.degree.levelMasters
dc.description.abstractThe Lansing effect is a specific type of parental age effect whereby older parents have shorter-lived offspring than younger parents. The phenomenon is important because it implies the presence of non-genetic forms of inheritance relating to parental age, such as epigenetics or physiological effects. Further, the existence of the Lansing effect informs our understanding of the evolution of life histories because it shows that senescence – traditionally defined in terms of decreases in survival and reproduction with age – also involves a decrease in offspring quality. The Lansing effect has been observed in a wide variety of taxa, including plants. Here, I investigated the Lansing effect in the subfamily Lemnoideae (duckweeds). My objectives were two-fold: (1) testing for the Lansing effect, and (2) if the Lansing effect is present, determining whether shortened lifespans of offspring of older parents are due to a higher mortality rate at all ages (i.e. a difference in baseline mortality), or a faster-accelerating mortality with age. I recorded lifespan, reproduction, and other metrics of fitness of 392 individuals; half were their parent’s first clonal offspring (offspring of younger parents), and half were fifth clonal offspring (offspring of older parents). Offspring of older parents had shorter lifespans (i.e., the Lansing effect occurred) and produced fewer offspring themselves compared to offspring of younger parents. Further, a model-selection approach indicated that offspring of older parents had a greater initial mortality rate at birth that then persisted through life compared to offspring of younger parents. Thus, greater baseline mortality was responsible for the Lansing effect for the plants in this experiment. My work emphasizes that senescence can manifest in offspring as a result of parental age effects, specifically the Lansing effect, in addition to the more well described phenomena of decreasing survival and reproduction.
dc.description.sponsorshipAlberta Conservation Association Grants in Biodiversity NSERC Discovery Grant (provided by Dr. Robert Laird)
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10133/6504
dc.language.isoen
dc.proquest.subject0306
dc.proquest.subject0412
dc.proquest.subject0329
dc.proquestyesYes
dc.publisherLethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Biological Sciences
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Biological Sciences
dc.publisher.facultyArts and Science
dc.relation.ispartofseriesThesis (University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science)
dc.subjectLansing effect
dc.subjectduckweed
dc.subjectLemna turionifera
dc.subjectparental age effect
dc.subjectsenescence
dc.subjectdecreasing offspring quality
dc.subjectolder parents
dc.subjectoffspring of older parents
dc.subject.lcshLemna--Aging--Research
dc.subject.lcshAging--Research
dc.subject.lcshDuckweeds--Aging--Research
dc.subject.lcshDuckweeds--Clones--Research
dc.subject.lcshDuckweeds--Life cycles--Research
dc.subject.lcshPopulation aging--Research
dc.subject.lcshDissertations, Academic
dc.titleThe Lansing effect in Lemna turionifera (Lemnoideae) and potential contributing factors
dc.typeThesis
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