Evolution of individually distinctive major urinary protein profiles in the house

描述(由申请人提供)：承认个人社交伙伴要求他们具有不同的、独特的表型。尽管识别在调节社会互动中很重要，但相对较少的研究研究了用于识别的极端表型变异是如何进化的。理论工作表明，身份信号特征的变异是由负的频率相关选择维持的，尽管还没有研究直接检验身份信号的潜在遗传学来检验这一假说。在这里，我们建议使用家鼠，小鼠，最重要的哺乳动物模式生物，来研究身份信号表型极端变异的遗传基础。在小鼠中，基于气味的个体识别是由尿液中独特的主要尿蛋白(MUP)特征所介导的。MUP是4号染色体上一个重复的MUP基因家族的产物。我们的研究将利用野生小鼠的F1雄性后代，从三个方面检测MUP谱的变异。(1)。我们的第一个目标是记录自然种群中MUP基因座的DNA序列变异模式。对近交系实验室菌株的比较和我们的初步分析表明，独特的MUP图谱是等位基因和基因拷贝数多态性的组合结果。我们将使用DNA序列变异模式来测试负频率依赖选择保持MUP多样性的证据。(2)。我们将研究MUP基因在野生小鼠后代中的表达模式。先前的研究表明，MUP基因座在实验室近交品系中的表达是不同的。我们将记录MUP在个体内部和个体之间的表达模式。同一MUP基因在不同个体间的不同表达模式表明，MUP调控的谱系特异性差异可能是自然群体中发现的高度可变的表型的重要因素。(3)。等位基因、基因拷贝数和调控变异在产生独特表型方面的相对重要性尚不清楚。我们将通过比较相同个体的尿液图谱和基因数据来确定每种形式的遗传变异对区别性的相对贡献。此外，我们将测试蛋白质变异是否可被雌性个体识别为不同的个体，将基因与蛋白质和行为表型联系起来。这项工作将与罗伯特·贝农博士和简·赫斯特博士(英国利物浦大学)合作完成，他们分别是这些领域的两位公认的专家。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Recognizing individual social partners requires that they have variable, individually distinctive phenotypes. Despite the importance of recognition in mediating social interactions, relatively few studies have examined how the extreme phenotypic variation used for recognition evolves. Theoretical work suggests that variation in identity signaling traits is maintained by negative frequency-dependent selection, though no studies have directly examined the underlying genetics of identity signals to test this hypothesis. Here we propose to use the house mouse, Mus musculus domesticus, the premier mammalian model organism, to study the genetic basis of extreme variation in identity signaling phenotypes. Scent-based individual recognition in mice is mediated by distinctive major urinary protein (MUP) profiles in urine. MUPs are the products of a family of tandemly duplicated Mup genes on chromosome 4. Using the F1 male progeny of wild-caught mice, our study will examine the variation in MUP profiles in three ways. (1). Our first objective is to document patterns of DNA sequence variation at Mup loci in natural populations. Comparisons of inbred laboratory strains and our preliminary analyses suggest that distinctive MUP profiles result from a combination of allelic and gene copy number polymorphism. We will use patterns of DNA sequence variation to test for evidence of negative frequency-dependent selection maintaining MUP diversity. (2). We will examine patterns of Mup gene expression in wild-derived mouse progeny. Previous studies have indicated that Mup loci are variably expressed across inbred laboratory strains. We will document patterns of Mup expression within and between individuals. Different patterns of expression for the same Mup gene across individuals would suggest that lineage-specific differences in Mup regulation may be an important contributor to the highly variable phenotypes found in natural populations. (3). The relative importance of allelic, gene copy number and regulatory variation in producing distinctive phenotypes is unknown. We will determine the relative contributions of each form of genetic variation to distinctiveness by comparing urine profiles with genetic data for the same individuals. Additionally, we will test if protein variatio is recognizable as individually distinct by females, linking genes to proteins to behavioral phenotypes. This work will be done in collaboration with Drs Robert Beynon and Jane Hurst (University of Liverpool, UK), two recognized experts in these areas respectively.