Meeting Abstract
P2.3 Saturday, Jan. 5 Neuroendocrine Mechanisms of Female Reproductive Behavior in the Swordtail X. birchmanni SMITH, V.L.*; ROSENTHAL, G.G.; Texas A&M University victoria424242@gmail.com
It is well accepted that animals integrate external environmental cues (predation, anthropogenic disturbance, social interactions) with information regarding their current physiological state to inform behavioral output. This is of particular importance with regards to the timing of reproductive behaviors. The mechanisms underlying the transduction of this information into changes in reproductive behavior, however, are poorly understood. Changes in an animal’s environment are capable of producing a behavioral stress response which often includes suppression of reproductive behavior and across vertebrate taxa, stress and the associated release of high levels of glucocorticoid hormones have been correlated with the suppression of reproductive physiology. Interestingly, several studies have also shown that, in some taxa, low levels of glucocorticoids may actually facilitate female reproductive function at the physiological level. Taken together, these findings suggest that glucocorticoids are a viable candidate for a role in modulation of reproductive behavior. Despite this, surprisingly few studies to date have focused on the role of glucocorticoids in female reproductive behaviors. The swordtail Xiphophorus birchmanni is a well-characterized model in evolution and behavioral ecology and is ideally suited for studies of female reproductive behavior. We hypothesize that individual differences in cortisol titer predict reproductive behavior in female X. birchmanni. To begin to address this hypothesis we have first conducted a field study comparing wild caught female reproductive condition with cortisol titre and glucocorticoid receptor expression in the brain. Following the field study we will conduct laboratory behavioral trials in which female glucocorticoid levels will be manipulated and compared with reproductive behaviors.
