School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia.
Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Sci Rep. 2024 Jun 14;14(1):13787. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-64520-8.
Cultural and genetic inheritance combine to enable rapid changes in trait expression, but their relative importance in determining trait expression across generations is not clear. Birdsong is a socially learned cognitive trait that is subject to both cultural and genetic inheritance, as well as being affected by early developmental conditions. We sought to test whether early-life conditions in one generation can affect song acquisition in the next generation. We exposed one generation (F1) of nestlings to elevated corticosterone (CORT) levels, allowed them to breed freely as adults, and quantified their son's (F2) ability to copy the song of their social father. We also quantified the neurogenetic response to song playback through immediate early gene (IEG) expression in the auditory forebrain. F2 males with only one corticosterone-treated parent copied their social father's song less accurately than males with two control parents. Expression of ARC in caudomedial nidopallium (NCM) correlated with father-son song similarity, and patterns of expression levels of several IEGs in caudomedial mesopallium (CMM) in response to father song playback differed between control F2 sons and those with a CORT-treated father only. This is the first study to demonstrate that developmental conditions can affect social learning and neurogenetic responses in a subsequent generation.
文化和遗传继承相结合，使特征表达能够迅速变化，但它们在确定跨代特征表达中的相对重要性尚不清楚。鸟类鸣叫是一种社会学习认知特征，受到文化和遗传继承的影响，同时也受到早期发育条件的影响。我们试图测试一代中的早期生活条件是否会影响下一代的歌唱能力。我们让一代（F1）雏鸟暴露在高水平的皮质酮（CORT）下，让它们成年后自由繁殖，并量化它们的儿子（F2）模仿社会父亲歌声的能力。我们还通过听觉前脑中的即时早期基因（IEG）表达来量化对歌声播放的神经遗传反应。只有一个皮质酮处理过的亲代的 F2 雄性比有两个对照亲代的雄性更不准确地模仿其社会父亲的歌声。ARC 在尾侧中脑背侧（NCM）的表达与父子歌声相似性相关，而对父亲歌声播放的反应中，几种 IEG 在尾侧中脑腹侧（CMM）的表达水平模式在对照 F2 儿子和只有皮质酮处理过的父亲的儿子之间存在差异。这是第一项表明发育条件可以影响后代的社会学习和神经遗传反应的研究。
