Biol Reprod Email Content Delivery
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

BOR - Papers in Press, published online ahead of print June 30, 2004.
Biol Reprod 2004, 10.1095/biolreprod.104.030890
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
71/4/1063    most recent
biolreprod.104.030890v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Rosenfeld, C. S.
Right arrow Articles by Roberts, R. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Rosenfeld, C. S.
Right arrow Articles by Roberts, R. M.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Rosenfeld, C. S.
Right arrow Articles by Roberts, R. M.
BIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION 71, 1063–1070 (2004)
DOI: 10.1095/biolreprod.104.030890
© 2004 by the Society for the Study of Reproduction, Inc.

Minireview

Maternal Diet and Other Factors Affecting Offspring Sex Ratio: A Review

Cheryl S. Rosenfeld1,2,3, and R. Michael Roberts2,4

Departments of Animal Sciences,2 Biomedical Sciences,3 Biochemistry,4 University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri 65211

Mammals usually produce approximately equal numbers of sons and daughters, but there are exceptions to this general rule, as has been observed in ruminant ungulate species, where the sex-allocation hypothesis of Trivers and Willard has provided a rational evolutionary underpinning to adaptive changes in sex ratio. Here, we review circumstances whereby ruminants and other mammalian species, especially rodents and primates, appear able to skew the sex ratio of their offspring. We also discuss some of the factors, both nutritional and nonnutritional, that potentially promote such skewing. Work from our laboratory, performed on mice, suggests that age of the mother and maternal diet, rather than the maternal body condition per se, play directive roles in controlling sex ratio. In particular, a diet high in saturated fats but low in carbohydrate leads to the birth of significantly more male than female offspring in mature laboratory mice, whereas when calories are supplied mainly in the form of carbohydrate rather than fat, daughters predominate. As the diets fed to the mice in these experiments were nutritionally complete and because litter sizes did not differ between treatments, dietary inadequacy seems not to be the cause for sex-ratio distortion. A number of mechanisms, all of which are testable, are discussed to provide an explanation for the phenomenon. We conclude the review by discussing potential implications of these observations to human medicine and agriculture.

1 Correspondence: Cheryl S. Rosenfeld, University of Missouri, 158 ASRC, 920 E. Campus Dr., Columbia, MO 65211. FAX: 573 882 6827; rosenfeldc{at}missouri.edu




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Biol. Reprod.Home page
E. D Fountain, J. Mao, J. J Whyte, K. E Mueller, M. R Ellersieck, M. J Will, R. M. Roberts, R. MacDonald, and C. S Rosenfeld
Effects of Diets Enriched in Omega-3 and Omega-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids on Offspring Sex-Ratio and Maternal Behavior in Mice
Biol Reprod, February 1, 2008; 78(2): 211 - 217.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
S. A. Wahaj, N. J. Place, M. L. Weldele, S. E. Glickman, and K. E. Holekamp
Siblicide in the spotted hyena: analysis with ultrasonic examination of wild and captive individuals
Behav. Ecol., November 1, 2007; 18(6): 974 - 984.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
F. Bonier, P. R. Martin, and J. C. Wingfield
Maternal corticosteroids influence primary offspring sex ratio in a free-ranging passerine bird
Behav. Ecol., November 1, 2007; 18(6): 1045 - 1050.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J DAIRY SCIHome page
J. R. Roche, J. M. Lee, and D. P. Berry
Climatic factors and secondary sex ratio in dairy cows.
J Dairy Sci, August 1, 2006; 89(8): 3221 - 3227.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
D. H. Baker
Inaugural Article: Comparative nutrition and metabolism: Explication of open questions with emphasis on protein and amino acids
PNAS, December 13, 2005; 102(50): 17897 - 17902.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 EndocrinologyHome page
R. M. Roberts
Embryo Culture Conditions: What Embryos Like Best
Endocrinology, May 1, 2005; 146(5): 2140 - 2141.
[Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2004 by the Society for the Study of Reproduction.