Mangiamele Lisa A, Dawn AllexAndrya, LeCure Kerry M, Mantica Gina E, Racicot Riccardo, Fuxjager Matthew J, Preininger Doris
Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063, United States of America.
Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063, United States of America.
Horm Behav. 2024 May;161:105502. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2024.105502. Epub 2024 Feb 21.
How diverse animal communication signals have arisen is a question that has fascinated many. Xenopus frogs have been a model system used for three decades to reveal insights into the neuroendocrine mechanisms and evolution of vocal diversity. Due to the ease of studying central nervous system control of the laryngeal muscles in vitro, Xenopus has helped us understand how variation in vocal communication signals between sexes and between species is produced at the molecular, cellular, and systems levels. Yet, it is becoming easier to make similar advances in non-model organisms. In this paper, we summarize our research on a group of frog species that have evolved a novel hind limb signal known as 'foot flagging.' We have previously shown that foot flagging is androgen dependent and that the evolution of foot flagging in multiple unrelated species is accompanied by the evolution of higher androgen hormone sensitivity in the leg muscles. Here, we present new preliminary data that compare patterns of androgen receptor expression and neuronal cell density in the lumbar spinal cord - the neuromotor system that controls the hind limb - between foot-flagging and non-foot-flagging frog species. We then relate our work to prior findings in Xenopus, highlighting which patterns of hormone sensitivity and neuroanatomical structure are shared between the neuromotor systems underlying Xenopus vocalizations and foot-flagging frogs' limb movement and which appear to be species-specific. Overall, we aim to illustrate the power of drawing inspiration from experiments in model organisms, in which the mechanistic details have been worked out, and then applying these ideas to a non-model species to reveal new details, further complexities, and fresh hypotheses.
多种多样的动物通讯信号是如何产生的，这是一个吸引了许多人的问题。非洲爪蟾已成为一个被使用了三十年的模型系统，用于揭示有关神经内分泌机制和声音多样性进化的见解。由于易于在体外研究中枢神经系统对喉肌的控制，非洲爪蟾帮助我们理解了在分子、细胞和系统水平上，两性之间以及物种之间声音通讯信号的差异是如何产生的。然而，在非模式生物中取得类似进展正变得越来越容易。在本文中，我们总结了我们对一组青蛙物种的研究，这些物种进化出了一种名为“足部摆动”的新型后肢信号。我们之前已经表明，足部摆动依赖雄激素，并且在多个不相关物种中足部摆动的进化伴随着腿部肌肉中雄激素激素敏感性的提高。在这里，我们展示了新的初步数据，这些数据比较了在控制后肢的神经运动系统——腰脊髓中，足部摆动青蛙物种和非足部摆动青蛙物种之间雄激素受体表达模式和神经元细胞密度。然后，我们将我们的工作与非洲爪蟾先前的研究结果联系起来，强调在非洲爪蟾发声和足部摆动青蛙肢体运动背后的神经运动系统之间，哪些激素敏感性模式和神经解剖结构是共有的，哪些似乎是物种特异性的。总体而言，我们旨在说明从模式生物实验中汲取灵感的力量，在模式生物实验中已经弄清楚了机制细节，然后将这些想法应用于非模式物种，以揭示新的细节、进一步的复杂性和新的假设。
