Computational and Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester Manchester, UK.
Front Genet. 2012 Oct 4;3:198. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2012.00198. eCollection 2012.
Recombinant inbred (RI) systems such as the BXD mouse family represent a population with defined genetic architecture and variation that approximates those of natural populations. With the development of novel RI lines and sophisticated methods that conjointly analyze phenotype, gene sequence, and expression data, RI systems such as BXD are a timely and powerful tool to advance the field of behavioral ecology. The latter traditionally focused on functional questions such as the adaptive value of behavior but largely ignored underlying genetics and mechanisms. In this perspective, we argue that using RI systems to address questions in behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology has great potential to advance research in these fields. We outline key questions and how they can be tackled using RI systems and BXD in particular. The unique opportunity to analyze genetic and phenotypic data from studies conducted in different laboratories and at different times is a key benefit of RI systems and may lead the way to a better understanding of how adaptive phenotypes arise from genetic and environmental factors.
重组近交系（RI）系统，如 BXD 小鼠家族，代表了一种具有明确遗传结构和变异的群体，这些特征与自然群体相似。随着新型 RI 系的发展和联合分析表型、基因序列和表达数据的复杂方法的出现，BXD 等 RI 系统成为推进行为生态学领域的及时而强大的工具。后者传统上侧重于功能问题，如行为的适应价值，但在很大程度上忽略了潜在的遗传学和机制。从这个角度来看，我们认为，使用 RI 系统来解决行为生态学和进化生物学中的问题，具有极大的潜力来推进这些领域的研究。我们概述了关键问题以及如何使用 RI 系统特别是 BXD 来解决这些问题。分析来自不同实验室和不同时间进行的研究的遗传和表型数据的独特机会是 RI 系统的一个关键优势，这可能为更好地理解适应性表型如何由遗传和环境因素产生铺平道路。
