Okamoto Yume, Hattori Madoka, Inoue-Murayama Miho
Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
Kyoto City University of Arts, Kyoto, Japan.
PLoS One. 2025 May 28;20(5):e0324055. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0324055. eCollection 2025.
Cats (Felis catus) are companions familiar to people worldwide. Despite their popularity, few studies have investigated the genetic background of their behavior. This study aimed to explore the relationship between candidate gene genotypes and behavioral traits in cats. Behavioral traits were assessed by cat owners using the Feline Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (Fe-BARQ), comprising 23 categories. The target gene was the androgen receptor gene (AR) associated with behavioral phenotypes such as aggressiveness across species. Specifically, the polymorphism of glutamine repeats within the AR exon 1 region was analyzed in 280 neutered/spayed mixed-breed cats (145 males and 135 females), revealing eight alleles with 15-22 repeats. These alleles were categorized into two groups based on the median: short (≤18 repeats) and long (≥19 repeats) types. Generalized linear model analysis revealed that cats carrying the short types displayed higher "purring" scores. Furthermore, male cats with short-type alleles showed higher "directed calls/vocalizations" scores, whereas females with short-type alleles showed higher "stranger-directed aggression" scores, than their respective counterparts with long-type alleles. Additionally, the comparative analysis of the homologous regions of felid AR genes revealed that long alleles with 20-22 repeats were specific to cats. This finding suggests that cats with a strong tendency to receive human care from birth may survive without vocal communication, leading to an increase in the frequency of the long alleles. This study provides the first evidence that AR glutamine repeats may be associated with specific behavioral traits in cats, and the findings have potential applications in improving animal welfare by predicting behavioral tendencies based on genetic data.
猫（Felis catus）是全球人们都熟悉的伴侣动物。尽管它们很受欢迎，但很少有研究调查其行为的遗传背景。本研究旨在探索猫的候选基因基因型与行为特征之间的关系。猫主人使用猫行为评估与研究问卷（Fe-BARQ）对行为特征进行评估，该问卷包含23个类别。目标基因是雄激素受体基因（AR），它与跨物种的攻击性等行为表型相关。具体而言，在280只绝育的混种猫（145只雄性和135只雌性）中分析了AR外显子1区域内谷氨酰胺重复序列的多态性，发现了8个具有15 - 22个重复序列的等位基因。这些等位基因根据中位数分为两组：短型（≤18个重复序列）和长型（≥19个重复序列）。广义线性模型分析表明，携带短型等位基因的猫表现出更高的“咕噜叫”得分。此外，与携带长型等位基因的同类猫相比，具有短型等位基因的雄性猫表现出更高的“定向叫声/发声”得分，而具有短型等位基因的雌性猫表现出更高的“对陌生对象的攻击性”得分。此外，猫科动物AR基因同源区域的比较分析表明，具有20 - 22个重复序列的长等位基因是猫所特有的。这一发现表明，从出生就有强烈接受人类照顾倾向的猫可能无需通过声音交流就能生存，从而导致长等位基因频率增加。本研究首次提供了证据，表明AR谷氨酰胺重复序列可能与猫的特定行为特征相关，这些发现对于基于遗传数据预测行为倾向以改善动物福利具有潜在应用价值。
