Female prairie voles show social and sexual preferences for males with longer avpr1a microsatellite alleles

Castelli, Frank R.; Kelley, Rebecca A.; Keane, Brian; Solomon, Nancy G.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.08.006

Cited by 22 publications

(26 citation statements)

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“…Avpr1a genotypes associate with aggressive behavior (13), but we do not know if this association is the mechanism by which Avpr1a genotype affects intrasexual competition in bank voles. For example, female choice may determine male reproductive success, because laboratory studies indicate that female prairie voles prefer to mate with males that have longer Avpr1a alleles (32). In females, our data imply a role for the expression of behaviors associated with the protection of offspring, e.g., from infanticide by intruders (51), and/or mother-offspring social dynamics rather than intrasexual competition for territories.…”

Section: 49 50)mentioning

confidence: 76%

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Balancing selection maintains polymorphisms at neurogenetic loci in field experiments

Lonn

Koskela

Mappes

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Most variation in behavior has a genetic basis, but the processes determining the level of diversity at behavioral loci are largely unknown for natural populations. Expression of arginine vasopressin receptor 1a (Avpr1a) and oxytocin receptor (Oxtr) in specific regions of the brain regulates diverse social and reproductive behaviors in mammals, including humans. That these genes have important fitness consequences and that natural populations contain extensive diversity at these loci implies the action of balancing selection. In Myodes glareolus, Avpr1a and Oxtr each contain a polymorphic microsatellite locus located in their 5′ regulatory region (the regulatory regionassociated microsatellite, RRAM) that likely regulates gene expression. To test the hypothesis that balancing selection maintains diversity at behavioral loci, we released artificially bred females and males with different RRAM allele lengths into field enclosures that differed in population density. The length of Avpr1a and Oxtr RRAMs was associated with reproductive success, but population density and the sex interacted to determine the optimal genotype. In general, longer Avpr1a RRAMs were more beneficial for males, and shorter RRAMs were more beneficial for females; the opposite was true for Oxtr RRAMs. Moreover, Avpr1a RRAM allele length is correlated with the reproductive success of the sexes during different phases of reproduction; for males, RRAM length correlated with the numbers of newborn offspring, but for females selection was evident on the number of weaned offspring. This report of density-dependence and sexual antagonism acting on loci within the arginine vasopressin-oxytocin pathway explains how genetic diversity at Avpr1a and Oxtr could be maintained in natural populations. Myodes glareolusM ost variation in behavior has a substantial genetic basis.Identifying loci that underpin the expression of behavior is central to our understanding of the evolution and adaptive significance of behavioral diversity (1, 2). Although many studies have found an association between genotype and behavior (2-4), few have quantified the eco-evolutionary dynamics of these genetic polymorphisms. A corollary of the diversity of behaviors exhibited in wild populations is the action of balancing selection (3, 5), a general term for mechanisms that promote fitness of alternate genotypes, including density-dependent selection (1), negative frequencydependent selection (6), heterozygote advantage (7), and sexual antagonism (8, 9). Density-and frequency-dependent selection, for example, can maintain polymorphisms at the foraging gene in laboratory populations of Drosophila melanogaster (1, 10). However, the lack of evidence for the conditions that drive balancing selection on behavioral loci in natural settings creates a challenge to behavioral genetics in understanding the dynamics of behavioral loci in real-world scenarios. Genes within the arginine vasopressin-oxytocin pathway present a classic opportunity to meet this challenge; its constituent loci have ...

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Section: 49 50)mentioning

confidence: 76%

“…Polymorphisms at the Avpr1a RRAM are associated with the reproductive success of rodents in the laboratory (32) and in some (5,33,34), but not all (17), field experiments. There have been few attempts to quantify the fitness consequences of polymorphisms at the Oxtr regulatory region, or indeed the natural levels of genetic diversity, at this locus.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Balancing selection maintains polymorphisms at neurogenetic loci in field experiments

Lonn

Koskela

Mappes

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…These results seem counterintuitive as IL males with short avpr1a alleles tended to overlap the home ranges of more females, were less likely to be residents, and formed weaker pair bonds with their social partner in laboratory studies (Hammock & Young, ) compared to IL males with long a vpr1a alleles. Perhaps a greater female mating preference for males with long a vpr1a alleles (Castelli et al., ; Keane et al., ) negated the differences in space use and pair bonding between males with short versus long avpr1a microsatellite alleles, resulting in less genetic monogamy among males long a vpr1a alleles. Unlike the IL males, there was no difference between KS males with long versus short avpr1a microsatellite alleles in genetic monogamy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These breeding colonies produced the experimental animals for the field experiment. All of the voles used in this study were housed under a 14-hr:10-hr light:dark photoperiod (lights on at 0800 h) at a temperature of 19 ± 1°C and 55% humidity (for details of housing and care, see Castelli, Kelley, Keane, & Solomon, 2011).…”

Section: Study Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of avpr1a length polymorphism on male social behavior and reproduction in semi‐natural populations of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster)

et al. 2017

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Intraspecific variation in sociosexual behavior has typically been investigated in the context of its relationship with environmental factors, but neurogenetic factors can also influence sociosexual behavior. In laboratory studies of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster), length polymorphism of microsatellite DNA within the gene (avpr1a) encoding the vasopressin 1a receptor is correlated with variation in male sociosexual behavior. However, field studies of prairie voles have found the relationship between male avpr1a microsatellite allele length and sociosexual behavior to be more ambiguous, possibly because most males had alleles of intermediate length. We tested the hypothesis that avpr1a microsatellite allele length mediates male sociosexual behavior in field settings by releasing voles into field enclosures where every male possessed two avpr1a microsatellite alleles at least one standard error longer or shorter than the mean length in their population of origin. Voles from an Illinois and Kansas population were examined separately as social monogamy appears more prevalent in the Illinois population. Illinois males with long avpr1a microsatellite alleles had smaller home ranges and overlapped a greater proportion of the home range of the female that they overlapped the most. Kansas males showed the opposite pattern. Illinois, but not Kansas, males with long avpr1a microsatellite alleles sired offspring with more females and sired more litters. Our results support the hypothesis that genetic variation associated with the avpr1a gene plays a role in mediating male prairie vole sociosexual behavior in nature. However, the relationship between specific male behaviors and male avpr1a microsatellite allele length sometimes differed significantly between Kansas and Illinois voles, suggesting relationships between specific male sociosexual behaviors and polymorphism associated with the avpr1a locus are complex, possibly involving specific nucleotide sequences or other population‐specific genetic differences.

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“…Experimental settings such as those used in our study provide relevant information not only for the study of animal temporal activity pattern, but also for several areas of ecology and behavior including for example the association between social and sexual preferences and genetic variation at microsattelite loci [52], modulation of vocalization by hormones [53], and the link between heritable neuroendocrine variation and male sexual behavior [54].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling Animal Activity as Curves: An Approach Using Wavelet-Based Functional Data Analysis

Henning¹,

Kist²,

Pinheiro³

et al. 2017

OJS

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Temporal activity patterns in animals emerge from complex interactions between choices made by organisms as responses to biotic interactions and challenges posed by external factors. Temporal activity pattern is an inherently continuous process, even being recorded as a time series. The discreteness of the data set is clearly due to data-acquisition limitations rather than a true underlying discrete nature of the phenomenon itself. Therefore, curves are a natural representation for high-frequency data. Here, we fully model temporal activity data as curves integrating wavelets and functional data analysis, allowing for testing hypotheses based on curves rather than on scalar and vector-valued data. Temporal activity data were obtained experimentally for males and females of a small-bodied marsupial and modelled as wavelets with independent and identically distributed errors and dependent errors. The null hypothesis of no difference in temporal activity pattern between male and female curves was tested with functional analysis of variance (FANOVA). The null hypothesis was rejected by FANOVA and we discussed the differences in temporal activity pattern curves between males and females in terms of ecological and life-history attributes of the reference species. We also performed numerical analysis that shed light on the regularity properties of the wavelet bases used and the thresholding parameters.

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Female prairie voles show social and sexual preferences for males with longer avpr1a microsatellite alleles

Cited by 22 publications

References 100 publications

Balancing selection maintains polymorphisms at neurogenetic loci in field experiments

Balancing selection maintains polymorphisms at neurogenetic loci in field experiments

Effects of avpr1a length polymorphism on male social behavior and reproduction in semi‐natural populations of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster)

Modelling Animal Activity as Curves: An Approach Using Wavelet-Based Functional Data Analysis

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