Accepted_test

The organism development program is determined by the gene expression. In multicellular organisms it is expected that the gene expression in the left/right structures of the body will be symmetrical. However, the stochastic fluctuations in gene expression may generate fluctuating asymmetry (FA), which can indicate developmental destabilization. We proposed to use the evaluation of FA in bilateral structures at the level of gene expression.

The establishment of the gene expression pattern, including FA, may depend on many environmental factors during early development, including temperature. The temperature can influence the gene expression pattern via epigenetic changes soon after fertilization. This epigenetic modification might be important for the establishment of gene expression patterns in bilateral structures of the organism, which create the FA in adult phenotypes.

In our work we investigated the effects of different IVF temperature conditions on developmental destabilization by analyzing the FA gene expression in bilateral organs of adult mice.

We demonstrated that the weight of mice depends significantly on the IVF temperature conditions and on the age of the mice. The levels of FA gene expression are different in the 35°C and the 37°C IVF temperature and control groups.

On the base of our data, we propose that the temperature conditions of the period before implantation play a significant role in development, contributing to the fitness of the adult.