Modulation of social behavior by the agouti pigmentation gene

Carola, Valeria; Perlas, Emerald; Zonfrillo, Francesca; Soini, Helena A.; Novotný, Miloš V.; Gross, Cornelius

doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00259

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The 10 th top region was centered on agouti signaling protein (ASIP), a well-known gene influencing pigmentation in mammals [ 66 , 67 ], that has a lesser known role in inhibiting lipolysis [ 68 ]. More recently, evidence is emerging that variation at ASIP can influence social behavior, most likely through its antagonistic effects on melanocortin receptors or α-melanocortin stimulating hormone [ 69 , 70 ]. Other than a small, predicted gene of unknown function, LYST is the only gene in the 30 th region.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Demographically-Based Evaluation of Genomic Regions under Selection in Domestic Dogs

et al. 2016

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Controlling for background demographic effects is important for accurately identifying loci that have recently undergone positive selection. To date, the effects of demography have not yet been explicitly considered when identifying loci under selection during dog domestication. To investigate positive selection on the dog lineage early in the domestication, we examined patterns of polymorphism in six canid genomes that were previously used to infer a demographic model of dog domestication. Using an inferred demographic model, we computed false discovery rates (FDR) and identified 349 outlier regions consistent with positive selection at a low FDR. The signals in the top 100 regions were frequently centered on candidate genes related to brain function and behavior, including LHFPL3, CADM2, GRIK3, SH3GL2, MBP, PDE7B, NTAN1, and GLRA1. These regions contained significant enrichments in behavioral ontology categories. The 3rd top hit, CCRN4L, plays a major role in lipid metabolism, that is supported by additional metabolism related candidates revealed in our scan, including SCP2D1 and PDXC1. Comparing our method to an empirical outlier approach that does not directly account for demography, we found only modest overlaps between the two methods, with 60% of empirical outliers having no overlap with our demography-based outlier detection approach. Demography-aware approaches have lower-rates of false discovery. Our top candidates for selection, in addition to expanding the set of neurobehavioral candidate genes, include genes related to lipid metabolism, suggesting a dietary target of selection that was important during the period when proto-dogs hunted and fed alongside hunter-gatherers.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Demographically-Based Evaluation of Genomic Regions under Selection in Domestic Dogs

et al. 2016

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“…; Carola et al. ). Melanistic individuals tend to be more resistant to stress, more aggressive, and more sexually active (reviewed in Ducrest et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Recent work has shown that some color polymorphisms are associated with extensive pleiotropic effects, creating substantial variation in life-history strategies among alternative phenotypes. For example, melanistic coloration is associated with variation in a suite of physiological and behavioral traits potentially through pleiotropy in the melanocortin system (Morgan and Cone 2006;Ducrest et al 2008;Carola et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

GxG epistasis in growth and condition and the maintenance of genetic polymorphism inGambusia holbrooki

et al. 2018

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Theory on indirect genetic effects (IGEs) indicates that variation in the genetic composition of social groups can generate GxG epistasis that may promote the evolution of stable polymorphisms. Using a livebearing fish with a genetic polymorphism in coloration and associated behavioral differences, we tested whether genotypes of social partners interacted with focal individual genotypes to influence growth and condition over 16 weeks of development. We found that IGEs had a significant influence on patterns of feeding, regardless of focal fish genotype. There was no influence of social environment on juvenile length, but there was significant GxG epistasis for body condition. Each focal juvenile was in better condition when its own genotype was not present in adult social partners. These data are consistent with negative frequency-dependent selection in which each morph performs better when it is rare. Neither variation in feeding nor activity-related behaviors explained variation in body condition, suggesting that GxG epistasis for condition was caused by physiological differences between the two genotypes. These findings indicate that GxG epistasis in a given polymorphism can generate fitness landscapes that contribute to the maintenance of that polymorphism and to maintenance of genetic variation for additional fitness-related traits.

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“…C57BL/6, CBA/J and BALB/c mice showed significant changes between their control and stressed groups in all behavioral indexes, and C57BL/6 mice displayed a much higher decrease in locomotor activity, climbing response and immobility time than the other two strains in the open-field test and forced swim test. These results are partly consistent with a study by Valeria Carola et al ., who observed that non-agouti mice with dark fur exhibited decreased locomotion and more aggressive-like behavior compared to agouti mice with light fur [ 39 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Involvement of the central hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in hair growth and melanogenesis among different mouse strains

Wang

Zhou

et al. 2018

PLoS ONE

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Stress has been demonstrated to play an important role in hair follicle function and the pathogenesis of some hair disorders. The central hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is activated by stress stimuli, synthesizes and releases various components and eventually induces the pathogenesis and recurrence of peripheral diseases. Our aim is to compare the different responses under exposure of stress in hair follicle function among different mouse strains, and to detect the involvement of the central HPA axis after stress in hair follicle growth and melanogenesis. In this study, we exposed different mouse strains (C57BL/6, CBA/J, C3H/HeN, BALB/c and ICR) to a 21-day chronic restraint stress protocol and selected C57BL/6, CBA/J and BALB/c mice for further study because of their significant behavioral alterations. Then, we evaluated and compared the different responses and sensitivity to chronic restraint stress in hair follicle function and central HPA axis among the selected strains. The results showed that expression of POMC, CRF and GR mRNA and protein and serum levels of corticosterone were inhibited in response to stress. These findings suggested that chronic restraint stress may inhibit hair follicle growth and melanogenesis via regulating the key elements of the central HPA axis. In addition, the results revealed different mouse strains exhibit different responses in the central HPA axis and hair follicle after stress exposure. C57BL/6 might be the most sensitive strain among the three strains tested as well as an appropriate strain to study possible pathophysiological mechanisms by which the nervous system influences skin function and screen dermatological drugs suitable for psychotherapy. We believe the current study will provide some useful information for researchers who are interested in the bidirectional communication between the nervous and skin systems and the management of stress-induced cutaneous diseases.

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Modulation of social behavior by the agouti pigmentation gene

Cited by 10 publications

References 22 publications

Demographically-Based Evaluation of Genomic Regions under Selection in Domestic Dogs

Demographically-Based Evaluation of Genomic Regions under Selection in Domestic Dogs

GxG epistasis in growth and condition and the maintenance of genetic polymorphism inGambusia holbrooki

Involvement of the central hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in hair growth and melanogenesis among different mouse strains

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