Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, The Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Cell Rep. 2022 Feb 15;38(7):110360. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110360.
How evolution modifies complex, innate behaviors is largely unknown. Divergence in many morphological traits, and some behaviors, is linked to cis-regulatory changes in gene expression. Given this, we compare brain gene expression of two interfertile sister species of Peromyscus mice that show large and heritable differences in burrowing behavior. Species-level differential expression and allele-specific expression in F hybrids indicate a preponderance of cis-regulatory divergence, including many genes whose cis-regulation is affected by burrowing behavior. Genes related to locomotor coordination show the strongest signals of lineage-specific selection on burrowing-induced cis-regulatory changes. Furthermore, genetic markers closest to these candidate genes associate with variation in burrow shape in a genetic cross, suggesting an enrichment for loci affecting burrowing behavior near these candidate locomotor genes. Our results provide insight into how cis-regulated gene expression can depend on behavioral context and how this dynamic regulatory divergence between species may contribute to behavioral evolution.
进化如何改变复杂的先天行为在很大程度上是未知的。许多形态特征和一些行为的差异与基因表达的顺式调控变化有关。有鉴于此，我们比较了两种可杂交的 Peromyscus 鼠的大脑基因表达，这两种鼠在挖掘行为上表现出巨大的、可遗传的差异。种间差异表达和 F1 杂种的等位基因特异性表达表明顺式调控的分化占主导地位，包括许多其顺式调控受到挖掘行为影响的基因。与运动协调相关的基因显示出与挖掘诱导的顺式调控变化相关的谱系特异性选择的最强信号。此外，与这些候选基因最接近的遗传标记与遗传交叉中挖掘形状的变异相关，这表明在这些候选运动基因附近，影响挖掘行为的基因座富集。我们的研究结果提供了有关顺式调控基因表达如何取决于行为背景的见解，以及这种物种间的动态调控分化如何有助于行为进化。
