Castles made of sand: The genomics of complex behavior

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议合作研究的目标是了解不同的社会行为是如何在基因组中编码并在大脑中连接的。利用一种新的自然脊椎动物系统，我们将追踪关键行为的基因组根源。具体来说，我们将研究来自东非马拉维湖的雄性慈鲷的先天“凉房”（繁殖巢）建设。这种行为是雄性和雌性之间社会和生殖互动的重要组成部分。在目标1中，我们将量化下层行为的要素，比较挖坑与建城堡的慈鲷物种及其F1杂交品种。目标2将通过可视化反映神经活动的“即时早期”基因的表达来绘制男性下丘脑行为期间招募的大脑区域。这些大脑区域的转录分化将通过F1杂交雄性的等位基因特异性表达分析来量化，这些雄性在物种特异性行为的阶段性序列中构建了鲍尔。目标3将通过对挖掘坑或建造城堡的F2个体的基因组重新测序，确定与动物行为差异有关的基因组区域。我们的综合方法旨在解决目前在标准近亲繁殖模式生物中不可能或充其量难以研究的问题。我们的策略，以确定神经回路的遗传控制调节的基本行为在近亲繁殖的脊椎动物将提供人类行为多样性的自然模型。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of the proposed collaborative research is to understand how distinct social behaviors are encoded in the genome and wired in the brain. Using a novel natural vertebrate system we will trace key behaviors to their genomic roots. Specifically, we will study innate 'bower' (reproductive nest) construction by male cichlid fishes from Lake Malawi, East Africa. This behavior is an essential part of social and reproductive interactions between males and females. In Aim 1, we will quantify the elements of bower behavior, comparing pit-digging vs. castle-building cichlid species and their F1 hybrids. Aim 2 will map brain regions recruited during male bower behavior by visualizing the expression of "immediate early" genes that reflect neural activity. Transcriptional divergence in these focal brain regions will then be quantified by allele-specific expression analysis in F1 hybrid males, who construct bowers in a phased sequence of species-specific behaviors. Aim 3 will identify regions of the genome responsible for differences in bower behavior by re-sequencing the genomes of bulked F2 individuals who either dig pits or build castles. Our integrative approach is designed to solve problems that are currently impossible, or at best difficult to study in standard inbred model organisms. Our strategy to identify the genetic control of neural circuits regulating essential behaviors in outbred vertebrates will provide a natural model of human behavioral diversity.