Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Car, Acc, Cala St, Francesc 14 Blanes 17300 Girona, Spain.
BMC Genomics. 2014 Feb 28;15:167. doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-15-167.
Social dominance is important for the reproductive success of males in many species. In the black-faced blenny (Tripterygion delaisi) during the reproductive season, some males change color and invest in nest making and defending a territory, whereas others do not change color and 'sneak' reproductions when females lay their eggs. Using RNAseq, we profiled differential gene expression between the brains of territorial males, sneaker males, and females to study the molecular signatures of male dimorphism.
We found that more genes were differentially expressed between the two male phenotypes than between males and females, suggesting that during the reproductive period phenotypic plasticity is a more important factor in differential gene expression than sexual dimorphism. The territorial male overexpresses genes related to synaptic plasticity and the sneaker male overexpresses genes involved in differentiation and development.
Previously suggested candidate genes for social dominance in the context of alternative mating strategies seem to be predominantly species-specific. We present a list of novel genes which are differentially expressed in Tripterygion delaisi. This is the first genome-wide study for a molecular non-model species in the context of alternative mating strategies and provides essential information for further studies investigating the molecular basis of social dominance.
社会支配地位对许多物种雄性的生殖成功至关重要。在繁殖季节的黑脸鳚（Tripterygion delaisi）中，一些雄性会变色并投入到筑巢和保卫领地中，而另一些雄性则不会变色，并在雌性产卵时“偷偷”繁殖。使用 RNAseq，我们对有领地的雄性、潜行者雄性和雌性的大脑进行了差异基因表达谱分析，以研究雄性二态性的分子特征。
我们发现，两个雄性表型之间差异表达的基因多于雄性和雌性之间的差异表达基因，这表明在繁殖期，表型可塑性是差异基因表达的一个比性二态性更为重要的因素。有领地的雄性过度表达与突触可塑性有关的基因，而潜行者雄性过度表达与分化和发育有关的基因。
先前在替代交配策略背景下提出的社会支配候选基因似乎主要是物种特异性的。我们提出了一个在 Tripterygion delaisi 中差异表达的新基因列表。这是第一个针对替代交配策略的非模式物种的全基因组研究，为进一步研究社会支配的分子基础提供了重要信息。
