Biology subjects

Rogers, M. M.

Publications and source records attributed to Rogers, M. M..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Chronic predation risk induces sex-specific effects in behavior but does not induce long-term oxidative damage

Predation is a strong environmental and selective pressure that can favour rapid and plastic shifts in behaviour and escape ability to increase an organisms immediate survival. However, maintaining antipredator responses under repeated predation stress can induce physiological costs to an organism from long-term exposure to elevated cortisol. We know little about how individuals balance this trade-off between short-term survival and longevity, including whether males and females balance this trade-off differently based on life history differences in reproduction, survival, and risk adversity. To assess sex differences in long-term behavioural responses and physiological costs to predation risk, we exposed threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) to visual cues of a live rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) predator twice a week for 14 weeks, then measured stickleback antipredator behaviour and swimming performance 5 months later. To quantify potential long-term costs of behavioural adaptation, we measured relative telomere length as a proxy for long-term oxidative damage. We found strong sex specific effects in behaviour and swim endurance: males, but not females, altered their hiding behaviour and had shorter swim endurance in the first trial, suggesting overall lower activity. Surprisingly, we found no evidence for chronic predation shortening telomere length or hindering growth in body length. Overall, these results suggest that plastic responses can be dictated by the different life-history strategies for males and females, and suggest that individuals can maintain long-term changes in antipredator behaviour without costs to their physiological state. HighlightsO_LIChronic predator exposure produced persistent sex differences in space use and swim performance. C_LIO_LIPredator-exposed males altered their hiding strategy and showed reduced swim performance, while females showed no behavioural or performance differences. C_LIO_LIDifferences in swim times were restricted to the first trial and all individuals were exhausted by trial 3. C_LIO_LIRelative telomere length and growth in length did not differ between exposed and unexposed individuals. C_LI

ecology↗

bioRxiv2025

Warm waters undermine cryptic female choice

Reproduction is often more thermally sensitive than survival. Thus, understanding the thermal sensitivity of reproductive interactions is crucial given global warming. However, it is unknown how temperature influences female control over fertilization after mating (i.e., cryptic female choice). We tested how temperatures relevant to current conditions and climate change projections influence cryptic female choice in a marine fish, Symphodus ocellatus. Under typical conditions, females bias fertilization dynamics to favor dominant males. We find that warmer temperatures decrease female influence on sperm velocity and reduce the expected paternity of dominant males. Our results demonstrate that temperatures relevant to climate change can shift the balance between mate choice and male-male competition. Thus, climate change may influence sexual selection, leading to evolutionary changes in reproductive traits.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Autoregulatory control of microtubule binding in the oncogene, doublecortin-like kinase 1

The microtubule-associated protein (MAP), doublecortin-like kinase 1 (DCLK1), is highly expressed in a range of cancers and is a prominent therapeutic target for the development of kinase inhibitors. However, the physiological roles of its kinase activity and how DCLK1 kinase activity is regulated remain elusive. Here we employ in vitro reconstitution with purified proteins to analyze the role of DCLK1 kinase activity in regulating microtubule binding. We find that DCLK1 autophosphorylates a single residue within its C-terminal tail to restrict its kinase activity and prevent aberrant hyperphosphorylation within its microtubule-binding domain. Removal of the C-terminal tail or mutation of this residue causes an increase in phosphorylation largely within the doublecortin 2 (DC2) domain, which dramatically reduces the microtubule affinity of DCLK1. Therefore, autophosphorylation at specific sites within DCLK1 have diametric effects on the molecules ability to associate with microtubules. Overall, our results suggest a mechanism by which DCLK1 modulates its own kinase activity to tune its microtubule binding affinity, providing molecular insights into a unique form of autoregulatory control over microtubule binding activity within the broader family of MAPs. These results provide useful molecular insights for future therapeutic efforts related to DCLK1s role in cancer development and progression.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2017

Insular Cortex Mediates Approach And Avoidance Responses To Social Affective Stimuli

Social animals detect the affective states of others and utilize this information to orchestrate appropriate social interactions. Social affective behaviors include cooperation, reproductive acts and avoiding sick individuals. In a social affective behavioral test in which experimental adult male rats were given the choice to interact with either naive or stressed conspecifics, the experimental rats demonstrated both approach and avoidant behaviors towards the conspecific, depending upon the age of the conspecific; experimental adult rats approached the stressed juvenile but avoided the stressed adult. Optogenetic inhibition of the insular cortex, a region anatomically positioned to contribute to social cognition, disrupted these behaviors. Receptors for the social nonapeptide oxytocin (OT) are found in high density within the insular cortex and here oxytocin increased intrinsic excitability and synaptic efficacy in acute insular cortex slices. Blockade of oxytocin receptors (OTRs) in the insula eliminated the effect of conspecific stress on approach behavior, while insular administration of OT recapitulated the behaviors typically observed in response to stressed conspecifics. Network analysis using Fos immunoreactivity identified functional connectivity between the insular cortex and the network of regions involved in social decision making. These results implicate insular cortex as a novel target of OT and suggest that insula is a key component in the circuit underlying age-dependent social responses to stressed conspecifics.

neuroscience↗