Thesis subject
The role of the placenta in the transfer for stress from mother to offspring in live-bearing fish
One of the most well known aquarium fish species are the Poecilids (Poeciliidae, ‘Guppy family’). These remarkable fish species are live-bearing, meaning that they develop their offspring inside their body with a pregnancy. But did you know that some of these species have evolved a placenta while others lack a placenta?
The placenta functions as a pregnancy organ. It connects the mother with their developing children and facilitates the transfer of nutrients, oxygen and waste products. In Poecilids the placenta is evolved and disappeared at least nine times independently. This gives us the opportunity to compare species with different placentas (matrotroph) and with a closely related counterpart without a placenta (lecitotroph).
I am interested in the transfer of maternal stress during the pregnancy to offspring. Would it be beneficial to have a placenta during stressful circumstances, for example to prepare unborn offspring to their future environment? To answer this question we will analyze the behavior of offspring, molecular changes in mother and offspring and investigate the placenta.
For all these topics it is possible to do your thesis. To give you a clear overview of the possibilities:
- Working with fish
- Stress physiology
- Behavior tests on offspring
- Lab techniques such as RNA-seq, QPCR and ELISAs
- Life history traits
- Histology
Interested? Or do you want to know more about poeciliidae? Feel free to send an email to ezo.thesis@wur.nl