Meeting Abstract
Over the last decade, several theoretical models have been put forth to describe how animals respond to an adverse environment and how this response changes throughout the animals’ lives and physiological demands. These models capture the context- and condition- dependent nature of stress responses. However, application of the models has been limited thus far because each model addresses different aspects of the problems facing the field of stress biology. Thus, there is a need for a unifying framework that integrates existing models of stress physiology and incorporates changes in physiological demand with life history stages and age, intricate relationships among physiological systems, and biphasic nature of stress responses. Here, I describe a new framework of the Damage-Fitness Model. In this model, regulators, such as DNA repair, inflammatory response, and glucocorticoids, change constantly and act as anti-damage mechanisms to minimize damage caused by a stressor. When the anti-damage regulators are insufficient or inappropriate, damage accumulates. Previous studies indicate that these damages directly impact reproductive performance, disease risks, and survival. The types of stress responses, the threshold at which stress responses are initiated, and the magnitude of the responses are shaped by developmental and current environments. How those environments and stress response phenotypes alter fitness outcome will be discussed.
