Inside the supergene of the bird with four sexes

Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved..

The white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) offers unique opportunities to understand the adaptive value of supergenes, particularly their role in alternative phenotypes. In this species, alternative plumage morphs segregate with a nonrecombining segment of chromosome 2, which has been called a 'supergene'. The species mates disassortatively with respect to the supergene; that is, each breeding pair consists of one individual with it and one without it. This species has therefore been called the "bird with four sexes". The supergene segregates with a behavioral phenotype; birds with it are more aggressive and less parental than birds without it. Here, we review our efforts to identify the genes inside the supergene that are responsible for the behavioral polymorphism. The gene ESR1, which encodes estrogen receptor α, differs between the morphs and predicts both territorial and parental behavior. Variation in the regulatory regions of ESR1 causes an imbalance in expression of the two alleles, and the degree to which this imbalance favors the supergene allele predicts territorial singing. In heterozygotes, knockdown of ESR1 causes a phenotypic switch, from more aggressive to less aggressive. We recently showed that another gene important for social behavior, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), is differentially expressed between the morphs and predicts territorial singing. We hypothesize that ESR1 and VIP contribute to behavior in a coordinated way and could represent co-adapted alleles. Because the supergene contains more than 1000 individual genes, this species provides rich possibilities for discovering alleles that work together to mediate life-history trade-offs and maximize the fitness of alternative complex phenotypes.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2020

Erschienen:

2020

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:126

Enthalten in:

Hormones and behavior - 126(2020) vom: 14. Nov., Seite 104850

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Maney, Donna L [VerfasserIn]
Merritt, Jennifer R [VerfasserIn]
Prichard, Mackenzie R [VerfasserIn]
Horton, Brent M [VerfasserIn]
Yi, Soojin V [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Alternative phenotypes
Coadaptation
Estrogen receptor alpha
Inversion polymorphism
Journal Article
Life-history strategy
Parental behavior
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Review
Social behavior
Song
Territorial aggression
Vasoactive intestinal peptide

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 03.05.2021

Date Revised 30.03.2024

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104850

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM315089938