Key Laboratory of Ecological Adaptive Evolution and Conservation on Animals-Plants in Southwest Mountain Ecosystem of Yunnan Province Higher Institutes College, School of Life Science of Yunnan Normal University, Kunming; 650500, China
In order to investigate the effects of environmental temperature and reproductive experience on the energy metabolism during lactation of Eothenomys miletus, three consecutive reproductions of E. miletus were exposed to different temperatures. The first, second and third reproductions of E. miletus were exposed to 30oC, 20oC and 10oC, respectively. Body mass, energy intake, resting metabolic rate (RMR), nonshivering thermogenesis (NST), litter size and mass, cytochrome c oxidase (COX) activity in brown adipose tissue (BAT) and serum thyroid hormone were measured. The results showed that compared with the first reproduction group, energy intake, RMR, NST, COX activity, triiodothyronine (T3) levels of E. miletus in the third reproduction group increased significantly, while litter mass decreased significantly during weaning. All of the results showed that E. miletus reproduced at lower temperatures were in a negative energy balance, and there was a trade-off between self-sustainment and energy allocation of feeding offspring; thermogenesis increased and reproductive output decreased at lower temperatures. Moreover, E. miletus may perceive changes in environmental temperature and reduce reproductive investment under the condition of different temperatures, which accorded with the prediction of “seasonal investment hypothesis”.