Behavioral and Morphological Variation in Garter Snakes: The Role of Genes and Hormones

国王 9409464 基因和激素强烈影响动物的行为和形态。 因此，两者都可能是重要的，在个人之间，种群之间，物种之间的行为和形态的差异。 不幸的是，关于基因和激素之间相互作用的信息普遍缺乏。 本研究通过关注基因和激素对束带蛇行为的影响来解决这一需求。 该研究结合了数量遗传学和内分泌学的方法，通过将激素操作与实验室饲养的束带蛇家族内和家族之间的行为，形态和激素变化分析相结合。 由于激素对行为和形态的影响可能发生在出生前，因此这些分析中将包括发育中后代的子宫内激素环境数据。 为了确定在实验室中观察到的模式是否与自然界中观察到的模式相似，将对野生捕获的束带蛇进行比较分析。 了解行为和形态变异产生的机制在生物学中具有基本意义。 这项研究将有助于这样的理解，回答问题，如：（1）遗传变异的行为和形态介导的激素机制？ (2)激素是否同时影响多个性状，从而在性状之间产生相关性？ (3)造成个体差异的过程是否与造成性别差异的过程相同？ 这项研究的结果可能广泛适用于各种生物。 这项研究所依据的遗传学原理适用于所有生物体，所研究的激素过程对所有脊椎动物都是相似的。 随着进一步的研究，这项研究可能会有应用范围从评估释放到环境中的模仿激素的化学物质的影响，以治疗影响激素途径的遗传疾病。

King 9409464 Genes and hormones strongly influence animal behavior and morphology. As a consequence both are likely to be important in producing differences in behavior and morphology among individuals, among populations, and among species. Unfortunately, information on the interplay between genes and hormones in generally lacking. This study addresses this need by focusing on the effects of genes and hormones on the behavior on the behavior of the garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis. The research combines methods from quantitative genetics and endocrinology by coupling hormone manipulations with analyses of behavioral, morphological, and hormonal variation within and among families of laboratory-reared garter snakes. Because hormonal influences on behavior and morphology may occur before birth, data on the in utero hormonal environment of developing offspring will be included in these analyses. To determine whether patterns observed in the laboratory parallel those seen in nature, a comparable analysis of wild-caught garter snakes will conducted. Understanding the mechanisms by which variation in behavior and morphology arise is of basic significance in biology. This research will contribute to such an understanding by answering questions such as: (1) Is genetic variation in behavior and morphology mediated through hormonal mechanisms? (2) Do hormones affect multiple traits simultaneously, thus generating correlations among traits? (3) Are the processes giving rise to variation among individuals the same as those giving rise to differences between genders? The results from this research are likely to be broadly applicable to a wide variety of organisms. The genetic principles underlying this research hold for all organisms and the hormonal processes under investigation are similar for all vertebrates. With further study, this research may have applications ranging from assessment of the effects of hormone-mimicking chemicals released into the environment to treatment of geneti c disorders affecting hormonal pathways.