Increased susceptibility to oxidative stress as a proximate cost of reproduction

Carlos Alonso-Alvarez*, Sophie Bertrand, Godefroy Devevey, Josiane Prost, Bruno Faivre and Gabriele Sorci Laboratoire de Parasitologie Evolutive, CNRS UMR 7103, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, xquai St. Bernard, 75252 Paris cedex 05, France UMR CNRS 5561 BioGéo Sciences, Equipe Ecologie Evolutive, Université de Bourgogne, 6 Blvd Gabriel, 21000 Dijon, France UPRES Lipides Nutrition, Université de Bourgogne, EA 2422, 6 Blvd Gabriel, 21000 Dijon, France *Correspondence: E-mail: [email protected] Abstract In iteroparous species high investment in current reproduction is usually paid in terms of reduced future reproduction and increased mortality. However, the proximal mechanisms of these costs remain poorly understood. Free radicals arising as by-products of normal metabolic activities have deleterious effects on cellular proteins, lipids and DNA, and this phenomenon is known as oxidative stress. Since reproduction is an energetically demanding activity, which increases both basal and field metabolic rates, one could expect that breeding effort generates an oxidative stress whose strength depends on the availability and efficiency of antioxidant defences. In agreement with this prediction, we show here for the first time that reproduction decreases antioxidant defences, illustrating that oxidative stress represents a cost of reproduction. We suggest that increased susceptibility to oxidative stress might be a general proximal connection between reproduction and survival underlying other mechanistic links previously acknowledged.