The Genome Center, Washington University School of Medicine, Campus Box 8501, 4444 Forest Park Avenue, St Louis, Missouri 63108, USA.
Nature. 2010 Apr 1;464(7289):757-62. doi: 10.1038/nature08819.
The zebra finch is an important model organism in several fields with unique relevance to human neuroscience. Like other songbirds, the zebra finch communicates through learned vocalizations, an ability otherwise documented only in humans and a few other animals and lacking in the chicken-the only bird with a sequenced genome until now. Here we present a structural, functional and comparative analysis of the genome sequence of the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), which is a songbird belonging to the large avian order Passeriformes. We find that the overall structures of the genomes are similar in zebra finch and chicken, but they differ in many intrachromosomal rearrangements, lineage-specific gene family expansions, the number of long-terminal-repeat-based retrotransposons, and mechanisms of sex chromosome dosage compensation. We show that song behaviour engages gene regulatory networks in the zebra finch brain, altering the expression of long non-coding RNAs, microRNAs, transcription factors and their targets. We also show evidence for rapid molecular evolution in the songbird lineage of genes that are regulated during song experience. These results indicate an active involvement of the genome in neural processes underlying vocal communication and identify potential genetic substrates for the evolution and regulation of this behaviour.
斑胸草雀是几个领域的重要模式生物，与人类神经科学有独特的相关性。与其他鸣禽一样，斑胸草雀通过学习发声来进行交流，这种能力在人类和其他少数几种动物中得到了证实，而在鸡（直到现在唯一具有测序基因组的鸟类）中却没有。在这里，我们对斑胸草雀（Taeniopygia guttata）的基因组序列进行了结构、功能和比较分析，斑胸草雀是一种鸣禽，属于大型鸟类目雀形目。我们发现，基因组的整体结构在斑胸草雀和鸡中相似，但在许多染色体内重排、谱系特异性基因家族扩张、长末端重复逆转录转座子数量以及性染色体剂量补偿机制方面存在差异。我们表明，歌曲行为使斑马雀大脑中的基因调控网络参与其中，改变了长非编码 RNA、microRNAs、转录因子及其靶基因的表达。我们还为在鸣禽谱系中与歌曲体验过程中受调控的基因的快速分子进化提供了证据。这些结果表明，基因组在发声交流的神经过程中积极参与，并确定了这种行为进化和调控的潜在遗传基础。
