Behaviour as part of a life history: mechanisms and function

个别动物的行为各不相同，但产生这种变化的机制及其功能相关性还没有得到适当的理解。联合收割机必须将直接问题和最终问题结合起来，这就要求采取综合的跨学科办法。建立这种方法是本申请的动机。在常见的秃鹰Buteo buteo，我已经证明，不仅显着的整体健身之间的差异，而且在重要的健身决定因素，如侵略和寄生虫负载的水平。表型多态性与候选基因中的序列变异相关，所述候选基因是黑皮质素-1-受体（Mc 1 R），其调节羽毛的色素沉着，并且很可能受睾酮的影响。研究基因型，激素，行为，表型和健身之间的这些联系可以解释健身结果的遗传和表型变异的行为和生活史。我建议补充长期的研究，秃鹰的实验研究，在一个完善的模型系统，斑胸草雀Taeniopygia guttata。这种实验室和现场方法的结合为研究Mc 1 R和其他候选基因、激素水平与攻击性和社会行为以及最终健身之间的诱人联系提供了新的机会。利用出色的机会，房子斑马雀在目前未使用的围栏内的椅子动物行为在比勒费尔德，我将在他们的探索，侵略性和社会行为的个别雀。它们的适应性将在不同的实验条件下进行测量，行为变异将被划分为加性遗传方差和环境效应。同时，将建立攻击性、社会行为和生活史特征的选择线。为了将行为变异与候选基因联系起来，我计划建立一个新的行为遗传学实验室，并从Mc 1 R和其他候选基因开始，因为斑胸草雀既有基于黑色素的信号，也有不同的羽毛形态。作为一种互补的遗传学方法，我将使用数量性状基因座和微阵列分析，以确定与观察到的行为变异相关的基因组区域。这种综合研究框架将导致产生行为变化的机制和这种变化的健身后果的理解。

Individual animals vary in their behaviour, but the mechanisms generating this variation and its functional relevance are not properly understood. The necessity to combine both proximate and ultimate questions requires an integrated, interdisciplinary approach. To establish this approach is the motivation for this application. In the common buzzard Buteo buteo, I have shown not only significant overall fitness differences between the three discrete phenotypes but also in important fitness determinants, such as the levels of aggression and parasite load. The phenotypic polymorphism correlates with sequence variation in a candidate gene, the melanocortin-1-receptor (Mc1R) which regulates pigmentation of feathers and which is very likely influenced in its activity by testosterone. Studying these links between genotype, hormones, behaviour, phenotype and fitness could explain fitness consequences of genetic and phenotypic variation in behaviour and life history. I propose to complement the long-term study of buzzards with an experimental study in a well established model system, the zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata. This combination of laboratory and fieldbased approaches offers new opportunities to study the tantalising link from variation in Mc1R and other candidate genes, hormone levels to aggressive and social behaviour and ultimately fitness. Using the outstanding opportunities to house zebra finches in currently unused enclosures within the chair of Animal Behaviour at Bielefeld, I will characterise individual finches in their explorative, aggressive and social behaviour. Their fitness will be measured under different experimental conditions, and behavioural variation will be partitioned into additive genetic variance and environmental effects. In parallel, selection lines will be established for aggression, social behaviour and life history traits. To link behavioural variation to candidate genes, I plan to establish a new behavioural genetics lab and start with Mc1R and other candidate genes, as zebra finches possess both melaninbased signals but also different plumage morphs. As a complementary genetic approach, I will use quantitative trait loci and microarray analyses to identify genomic regions that correlate with the observed behavioural variation. This integrated research framework will lead to the understanding of the mechanisms which generate behavioural variation and the fitness consequences of this variation.