The three-spined stickleback as a model for behavioural neuroscience

Norton, William; Gutiérrez, Héctor Carreño

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0213320

Cited by 21 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 77 publications

(125 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The cameras were connected to a PC (Hewlett Packard) which was used to record videos in Audio Video Interleave format. Ethovision XT12 software (Noldus) was used for video tracking 41 . Some behavioural read-outs had to be scored manually since videotracking was not possible on the dark side of the black/white aquarium: freezing behaviour, time spent in the white zone and the number of times the fish crossed the boundary between black and white zones.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two hours after recording the OBR we performed the novel tank diving test NTT to measure anxiety-like behaviour 42 . Sticklebacks were tested in standard 3.5 L trapezoid tanks (27.9 × 22.5 × 11.5 × 15 cm, L (top) × L (bottom) × W × H) 41 . Zebrafish were tested in a narrower tank (27.9 × 22.5 × 4.5 × 15 cm, L (top) × L (bottom) × W × H).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Single fish were placed in the centre of the tank, allowed to acclimate for 1 min and recorded from above for 5 min. When the first videos had been acquired we manually moved two removable opaque plastic covers that divided the tank into a black and white zone 41 and recorded from above for further 5 min. Two tanks were recorded in parallel.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Skin swabbing is a refined technique to collect DNA from model fish species

Tilley

Gutiérrez

Sebire

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Model fish species such as sticklebacks and zebrafish are frequently used in studies that require DNA to be collected from live animals. This is typically achieved by fin clipping, a procedure that is simple and reliable to perform but that can harm fish. An alternative procedure to sample DNA involves swabbing the skin to collect mucus and epithelial cells. Although swabbing appears to be less invasive than fin clipping, it still requires fish to be netted, held in air and handled—procedures that can cause stress. In this study we combine behavioural and physiological analyses to investigate changes in gene expression, behaviour and welfare after fin clipping and swabbing. Swabbing led to a smaller change in cortisol release and behaviour on the first day of analysis compared to fin clipping. It also led to less variability in data suggesting that fewer animals need to be measured after using this technique. However, swabbing triggered some longer term changes in zebrafish behaviour suggesting a delayed response to sample collection. Skin swabbing does not require the use of anaesthetics and triggers fewer changes in behaviour and physiology than fin clipping. It is therefore a more refined technique for DNA collection with the potential to improve fish health and welfare.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Skin swabbing is a refined technique to collect DNA from model fish species

Tilley

Gutiérrez

Sebire

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The procedure was chosen as a compromise between this risk and the need for sufficient time to get adequate data. The 5-minute timeframe was previously used for three-spine stickleback by others (Norton and Carreño Gutiérrez 2019 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Divergent Response to the SSRI Citalopram in Male and Female Three-Spine Sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus)

Kellner

Olsén

2020

Arch Environ Contam Toxicol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are psychotropic pharmaceuticals used as antidepressants. SSRIs are commonly found in surface waters in populated areas across the globe. They exert their effect by blocking the serotonin re-uptake transporter in the presynaptic nerve ending. The present study examined whether behavioural effects to exposure to SSRI citalopram depend on personality and sex in the stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Three aspects of stickleback behaviour are examined: feeding behaviour, aggression, and boldness. We exposed sticklebacks to 350–380 ng/l citalopram for 3 weeks. Feeding and aggressive behaviour were recorded before and after exposure, whereas scototaxis behaviour was tested after exposure. The results show treatment effects in feeding and aggressive behaviour. Feeding is suppressed only in the male group (χ2 = 20.4, P < 0.001) but not in the females (χ2 = 0.91, P = 0.339). Aggressive behaviour was significantly affected by treatment (χ2 = 161.9, P < 0.001), sex (χ2 = 86.3, P < 0.001), and baseline value (χ2 = 58.8, P < 0.001). Aggressiveness was suppressed by citalopram treatment. In addition, the fish showed no change in aggression and feeding behaviour over time regardless of sex and treatment, which indicate personality traits. Only females are affected by treatment in the scototaxis test. The exposed females spent significantly (χ2 = 5.02, P = 0.050) less time in the white zone than the female controls.

show abstract

“…In addition to having a fully sequenced genome, they have been used in comparative cross-taxa studies looking for a conservation in the molecular underpinnings of social behavior (Rittschof et al 2014; Saul et al 2019) with both emerging and classic model systems. Indeed, there are already hundreds of previously identified candidate genes for social behavior waiting to be characterized (Sanogo et al 2011; Laine et al 2012; Greenwood et al 2013; Mommer & Bell 2014; Greenwood & Peichel 2015; Bell et al 2016; Bukhari et al 2017) and well-established behavioral assays (van Iersel 1953; Rowland 1982) that are amenable to automation (Ardekani et al 2013; Norton & Gutiérrez 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Minimally invasive brain injections for viral-mediated transgenesis: New tools for behavioral genetics in sticklebacks

James

Bell

2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

24Major Findings 25 Forced expression of MAOA or AVP resulted in more attacks, showing a causal link between genes and 26 behavior.Abstract 35 Establishing a causal relationship between genes and social behavior is challenging. To enable 36 direct manipulation of candidate genes and thereby examine how their expression contributes to 37 behavior, we developed a neurosurgical method to deliver pharmacological agents or transgenic 38 elements directly into the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) brain. Threespine sticklebacks 39 are a classic system for the study of behavior, ecology, and evolution. Male sticklebacks defending 40 nesting territories are highly aggressive toward intruders. Previous studies in stickleback have shown 41 that aggression is heritable, and that hundreds of genes are differentially expressed in the brain following 42 territorial intrusion. 43 We use viral-mediated transgenesis to test the effects on territorial aggression of overexpression 44 of candidate genes, monoamine oxidase (MAOA) and arginine vasopressin (AVP), in the stickleback 45 brain. Male sticklebacks received transcranial injections of mammalian homolog cDNA packaged in a 46 replication-deficient Herpes Simplex Virus 1 carrier. Animals transfected with either AVP or MAOA 47 constructs were more aggressive in response to a territorial intruder, unlike control animals transfected 48 with a fluorescent protein. 49 Viral-mediated transgenesis is a promising method to examine genetic underpinnings of 50 behaviors. Our success demonstrates that widely available mammalian plasmids work with this method, 51 lowering the barrier of entry to the technique. This method is flexible, fast, and amenable to statistically 52 powerful within-subject experimental designs, making it practical for use in natural populations. It 53 further enhances the growing molecular toolkit in threespine stickleback, a classic ethological system, 54 and is the first step toward using chemogenetics and optogenetics.55 56 57 Complex behaviors have been repeatedly shown to be heritable (reviewed in Dochtermann et al., 58 2019), yet establishing a causal relationship between genes and social behavior remains challenging. 59Partially, this difficulty arises from limitations of the primarily correlative methods for examining the 60 interplay between genes and behavior (Charney 2017), such as QTL, GWAS, and RNAseq studies. 61These types of studies are certainly a necessary step generating many candidate genes. However, to fully 62 characterize how a gene contributes to behavior, it is necessary to consider not just sequence differences, 63 but also regulatory and epigenetic influences. Therefore, to demonstrate and fully characterize a causal 64 relationship between a gene and behavior, it is crucial to have a method for manipulating gene 65 expression at a specific time and location. We developed one such method, viral-mediated transgenesis, 66 for the classic ethological system of threespined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus).

show abstract

The three-spined stickleback as a model for behavioural neuroscience

Cited by 21 publications

References 77 publications

Skin swabbing is a refined technique to collect DNA from model fish species

Skin swabbing is a refined technique to collect DNA from model fish species

Divergent Response to the SSRI Citalopram in Male and Female Three-Spine Sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus)

Minimally invasive brain injections for viral-mediated transgenesis: New tools for behavioral genetics in sticklebacks

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About