Born to Cry: A Genetic Dissection of Infant Vocalization
Born to Cry: A Genetic Dissection of Infant Vocalization
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DOI：
10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00250
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发表时间：
2018-10-29
影响因子：
3
通讯作者：
Williams, Robert W.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Ashbrook, David George;Roy, Snigdha;Williams, Robert W.
婴儿发声是鸟类和哺乳动物最基本和天生的行为形式之一。它们在激励亲代关爱方面起着关键作用，对健康和繁殖成功有重要贡献。据报道，这些发声的失调可以预测中枢神经系统疾病的风险，如缺氧、脑膜炎或自闭症谱系障碍。在这里，我们使用扩展的小鼠BXD家族，以及DBA/2J和C57BL/6J亲本菌株之间的双列杂交，开始对婴儿发声的许多方面进行遗传解剖。我们计算了遗传力，估计了父母起源效应的作用，并确定了在出生后7、8和9天控制超声波发声（usv）的新的数量性状位点（qtl）；与人类婴儿出生时非常相似的阶段。呼叫次数和频率的遗传率估计很低，这表明这些性状受到很高的选择压力。相比之下，叫声的持续时间和振幅具有较高的遗传性，表明选择较低，或者它们对亲缘识别的重要性较低。我们发现有证据表明，婴儿叫声的幅度取决于母亲的基因型，独立于共享的遗传变异。最后，我们确定了Chr 2和14上的两个影响呼叫频率的位点，以及Chr 8上的第三个影响发声幅度的位点。这三个基因座都包含值得进一步分析的候选基因。了解婴儿发声的遗传控制不仅对理解亲子互动的进化具有重要意义，而且对理解最早的先天行为、亲子关系的发展以及早期识别行为异常也具有重要意义。
Infant vocalizations are one of the most fundamental and innate forms of behavior throughout avian and mammalian orders. They have a critical role in motivating parental care and contribute significantly to fitness and reproductive success. Dysregulation of these vocalizations has been reported to predict risk of central nervous system pathologies such as hypoxia, meningitis, or autism spectrum disorder. Here, we have used the expanded BXD family of mice, and a diallel cross between DBA/2J and C57BL/6J parental strains, to begin the process of genetically dissecting the numerous facets of infant vocalizations. We calculate heritability, estimate the role of parent-of-origin effects, and identify novel quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that control ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) on postnatal days 7, 8, and 9; a stage that closely matches human infants at birth. Heritability estimates for the number and frequency of calls are low, suggesting that these traits are under high selective pressure. In contrast, duration and amplitude of calls have higher heritabilities, indicating lower selection, or their importance for kin recognition. We find suggestive evidence that amplitude of infant calls is dependent on the maternal genotype, independent of shared genetic variants. Finally, we identify two loci on Chrs 2 and 14 influencing call frequency, and a third locus on Chr 8 influencing the amplitude of vocalizations. All three loci contain strong candidate genes that merit further analysis. Understanding the genetic control of infant vocalizations is not just important for understanding the evolution of parent-offspring interactions, but also in understanding the earliest innate behaviors, the development of parent-offspring relations, and the early identification of behavioral abnormalities.