Genomic Resources for an Animal Model of Social Behavior

描述（由申请人提供）：影响人类健康的社会行为，包括攻击性和父母照顾，部分受遗传因素影响。由于这些行为的神经内分泌基础在脊椎动物中保存良好，动物模型中的发现可能适用于人类行为。因此，具有确定遗传成分的社会行为动物模型是鉴定和研究影响人类社会行为的候选基因的有价值的系统。本研究项目的目标是开发所需的基因组资源，以确定一个非常有前途的动物模型的社会行为，白喉麻雀的行为多态性的遗传基础。白喉麻雀已经引起了行为生物学家的极大兴趣，因为羽毛的多态性可以预测个体社会行为的许多方面。数十项行为研究已经证实，冠上有白色条纹（WS）的个体往往表现出更具竞争力的行为策略，参与更多的领土侵略和寻找配偶，而棕色条纹（TS）的鸟类表现出更多的父母关怀。行为多态性与2号染色体上的多态性倒位（命名为2m）相关，从而为负责行为表型的基因的位置提供遗传标记。利用比较基因组学的方法，我们已经在细胞遗传学上将2m倒位定位于与鸡3号染色体正交的白色喉麻雀基因组的一个片段，并定位了2（2m）染色体的重组抑制区域，该区域包含负责行为表型的基因。该提议的目的是1）定位2m倒位以鉴定行为多态性的候选基因，以及2）从白喉麻雀构建基因组细菌人工染色体（BAC）文库以支持未来的靶向定位和测序工作，所述靶向定位和测序工作集中于鉴定支配该物种中的社会行为的基因。总之，白喉麻雀是研究攻击性、养育子女和配对关系的遗传学和神经内分泌学的一个很好的模型。因此，这一提议将导致基因组工具的发展，这些工具是在有希望的社会行为动物模型中定位克隆行为多态性背后的基因所必需的。影响人类健康的社会行为，包括攻击性和父母照顾，部分受到遗传因素的影响。本研究项目的目的是开发在动物模型系统中识别社会行为遗传基础所必需的基因组资源，从而提高建模和直接研究人类社会行为遗传基础的能力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Social behaviors that impact human health, including aggression and parental care, are in part influenced by genetic factors. As the neuroendocrine bases of these behaviors are well conserved across vertebrates, findings in animal models are likely to be applicable to human behavior. Animal models of social behavior with a definitive genetic component are therefore valuable systems in which to identify and study genes that are candidates for influencing human social behavior. The goal of this research project is to develop the genomic resources required to identify the genetic basis of a behavioral polymorphism in an exceptionally promising animal model of social behavior, the white-throated sparrow. The white-throated sparrow has generated a great deal of interest among behavioral biologists because of a plumage polymorphism that predicts many aspects of an individual's social behavior. Dozens of behavioral studies have established that individuals with a white-stripe (WS) on the crown tend to exhibit a more competitive behavior strategy, engaging in more territorial aggression and mate-finding, whereas birds with a tan stripe (TS) exhibit more parental care. The behavioral polymorphism is linked to a polymorphic inversion on chromosome 2, designated 2m, thereby providing a genetic marker for the location of the gene(s) responsible for the behavioral phenotype. Using a comparative genomics approach, we have cytogenetically localized the 2m inversion to a segment of the white- throated sparrow genome orthologous to chicken chromosome 3, and mapped the recombination suppressed region of the 2 (2m) chromosome harboring the gene(s) responsible for the behavioral phenotype. The aims of this proposal are to 1) map the 2m inversion in order to identify candidate genes for the behavioral polymorphism and 2) construct a genomic bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library from the white-throated sparrow to support future targeted mapping and sequencing efforts focused on identifying the gene(s) that dictate social behavior in this species. In summary, the white-throated sparrow represents an excellent model for studying the genetics and neuroendocrinology of aggression, parenting, and pair-bonding. This proposal will therefore result in the development of the genomic tools necessary to positionally clone the gene(s) underlying the behavioral polymorphism in a promising animal model of social behavior.Social behaviors that impact human health, including aggression and parental care, are in part influenced by genetic factors. The purpose of this research project is to develop the genomic resources necessary to identify the genetic basis of social behavior in an animal model system, thereby enhancing the ability to model and directly study the genetic basis of human social behavior.