Genetic Analysis of Behavioral Variation Among Wild and Domesticated Strains of Zebrafish.

动物驯化的过程往往会导致与恐惧相关的行为发生深刻变化，驯养的种群变得比它们的野生祖先少得多。减少恐惧感的进化发生在许多驯化的脊椎动物身上，包括鸟类、哺乳动物和鱼类，但人们对驱动这一过程的基因变化知之甚少。在驯化过程中发生的基因变化总是相同的，还是有许多不同的遗传路径导致相同的行为结果？为了解决这个问题，研究人员必须首先确定控制脊椎动物恐惧相关行为的基因。这项拟议的研究使用基因技术来识别导致野生斑马鱼和驯化斑马鱼种群中与恐惧相关的行为差异的基因。斑马鱼不仅是一种重要的生物医学模型，而且在行为遗传学中也是一种强大的模型。这项研究的结果在许多背景下都将是重要的，包括行为进化的分子机制的研究，复杂行为的遗传基础，以及人工饲养物种的有效保护。更广泛的影响：圈养问题与爱达荷州和西北部的美洲原住民部落特别相关，因为该部落与鲑鱼渔业有着密切的经济和文化联系。为了增加美国原住民学生对科学的参与，这个研究项目将在每年夏天在实验室接待两名美国原住民高中生。

The process of animal domestication often causes profound changes in fear-related behaviors, with domesticated populations becoming substantially less fearful than their wild ancestors. The evolution of reduced fearfulness occurs in numerous domesticated vertebrates, including birds, mammals, and fish, but very little is known about the genetic changes that drive this process. Are the genetic changes that occur during domestication always the same, or are there many different genetic paths leading to the same behavioral outcome? To address this question, researchers must first identify the genes that regulate fear related behaviors in vertebrates. The proposed research uses genetic techniques to identify the genes that are responsible for differences in fear-related behaviors among wild and domesticated populations of zebrafish. In addition to being an important biomedical model, the zebrafish is also emerging as a powerful model in behavior genetics. The results of this research will be important in many contexts, including the study of molecular mechanisms of behavioral evolution, the genetic basis of complex behaviors, and the effective conservation of captively reared species. Broader impacts: The issue of captive rearing is particularly relevant to the Native American tribes of Idaho and the Northwest because of the Tribe's close economic and cultural ties to salmon fisheries. To increase participation of Native American Students in the sciences, this research program will host two Native American high school students in the lab each summer.