scholarly journals Supergenes on Steroids

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna Maney ◽  
Clemens Küpper
Keyword(s):  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Zonotrichia Albicollis ◽  
Phenotypic Differentiation ◽  
Behavioral Phenotypes ◽  
Apparent Lack ◽  
Individual Fitness ◽  
Genomic Architecture ◽  
Alternative Phenotypes ◽  
Genomic Landscape ◽  
Gene Overlap

At the birth of supergenes, the genomic landscape is dramatically re-organized leading to pronounced differences in phenotypes and increased intrasexual diversity. Two of the best-studied supergenes in vertebrates are arguably the inversion polymorphisms on chromosomes 2 and 11 in the white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) and the ruff (Calidris pugnax), respectively. In both species, regions of suppressed recombination determine plumage coloration and social behavioral phenotypes. Despite the apparent lack of gene overlap between these two supergenes, in both cases the alternative phenotypes seem to be driven largely by alterations in steroid hormone pathways. Here, we explore the interplay between genomic architecture and steroid-related genes. Due to the highly pleiotropic effects of such genes and their universal involvement in social behavior and genomic architecture, forces favouring their linkage are likely to have substantial effects on the evolution of behavioral phenotypes, individual fitness, and life history strategies. We propose that the differentiation of steroid-related genes, inside both supergenes, lies at the core of phenotypic differentiation in both of these interesting species.

scholarly journals Alternative reproductive strategies in white-throated sparrows are associated with differences in parasite load following experimental infection

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 20180194 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Boyd ◽  
T. R. Kelly ◽  
S. A. MacDougall-Shackleton ◽  
E. A. MacDougall-Shackleton
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Life History ◽  
Optimal Allocation ◽  
Parasite Load ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Zonotrichia Albicollis ◽  
Load Following ◽  
Infection Susceptibility ◽  
Immune Defences ◽  
Androgen Levels

Immune defences often trade off with other life-history components. Within species, optimal allocation to immunity may differ between the sexes or between alternative life-history strategies. White-throated sparrows ( Zonotrichia albicollis ) are unusual in having two discrete plumage morphs, white-striped and tan-striped. Within each sex, white-striped individuals are more aggressive and provide less parental care than tan-striped individuals. We extended immunocompetence handicap models, which predict sex differences in immunity and parasitism, to hypothesize that infection susceptibility should be greater in white-striped than tan-striped birds. We inoculated birds of both morphs with malarial parasites. Contrary to our prediction, among birds that became infected, parasite loads were higher in tan-striped than white-striped individuals and did not differ between the sexes. Circulating androgen levels did not differ between morphs but were higher in males than females. Our findings are not consistent with androgen-mediated immunosuppression. Instead, morph differences in immunity could reflect social interactions or life-history-related differences in risk of injury, and/or genetic factors. Although plumage and behavioural morphs of white-throated sparrow may differ in disease resistance, these differences do not parallel sex differences that have been reported in animals, and do not appear to be mediated by differences in androgen levels.

scholarly journals Vasoactive intestinal peptide as a mediator of the effects of a supergene on social behaviour

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1924) ◽  
pp. 20200196
Author(s):  
Brent M. Horton ◽  
Christina M. Michael ◽  
Mackenzie R. Prichard ◽  
Donna L. Maney
Keyword(s):  
Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Anterior Hypothalamus ◽  
Causal Role ◽  
Zonotrichia Albicollis ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Parental Behaviour ◽  
Genomic Architecture ◽  
Parental Phenotype ◽  
Behavioural Phenotypes

Supergenes, or linked groups of alleles that are inherited together, present excellent opportunities to understand gene–behaviour relationships. In white-throated sparrows ( Zonotrichia albicollis ), a supergene on the second chromosome associates with a more aggressive and less parental phenotype. This supergene includes the gene for vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), a neuropeptide known to play a causal role in both aggression and parental behaviour. Here, using a free-living population, we compared the levels of VIP mRNA between birds with and without the supergene. We focused on the anterior hypothalamus and infundibular region, two brain regions containing VIP neurons known to play a causal role in aggression and parental behaviour, respectively. First, we show that the supergene enhances VIP expression in the anterior hypothalamus and that expression positively predicts vocal aggression independently of genotype in both sexes. Next, we show that the supergene reduces VIP expression in the infundibular region, which suggests reduced secretion of prolactin, a pro-parental hormone. Thus, the patterns of VIP expression in these two regions are consistent with the enhanced aggression and reduced parental behaviour of birds with the supergene allele. Our results illustrate mechanisms by which elements of genomic architecture, such as supergenes, can contribute to the evolution of alternative behavioural phenotypes.

scholarly journals Human Life History Strategies

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 147470491667734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristine J. Chua ◽  
Aaron W. Lukaszewski ◽  
DeMond M. Grant ◽  
Oliver Sng
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Health Status ◽  
Latent Variable ◽  
Structural Equation Models ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Mating Strategies ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Environmental Cues ◽  
Behavioral Phenotypes ◽  
Wide Range

Human life history (LH) strategies are theoretically regulated by developmental exposure to environmental cues that ancestrally predicted LH-relevant world states (e.g., risk of morbidity–mortality). Recent modeling work has raised the question of whether the association of childhood family factors with adult LH variation arises via (i) direct sampling of external environmental cues during development and/or (ii) calibration of LH strategies to internal somatic condition (i.e., health), which itself reflects exposure to variably favorable environments. The present research tested between these possibilities through three online surveys involving a total of over 26,000 participants. Participants completed questionnaires assessing components of self-reported environmental harshness (i.e., socioeconomic status, family neglect, and neighborhood crime), health status, and various LH-related psychological and behavioral phenotypes (e.g., mating strategies, paranoia, and anxiety), modeled as a unidimensional latent variable. Structural equation models suggested that exposure to harsh ecologies had direct effects on latent LH strategy as well as indirect effects on latent LH strategy mediated via health status. These findings suggest that human LH strategies may be calibrated to both external and internal cues and that such calibrational effects manifest in a wide range of psychological and behavioral phenotypes.

Activity of the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis differs between behavioral phenotypes in female white-throated sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis)

2008 ◽  
Vol 156 (2) ◽  
pp. 426-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica I. Lake ◽  
Henry S. Lange ◽  
Sara O’Brien ◽  
Sara E. Sanford ◽  
Donna L. Maney
Keyword(s):  
Zonotrichia Albicollis ◽  
Behavioral Phenotypes

scholarly journals Personality links with lifespan in chimpanzees

eLife ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Drew M Altschul ◽  
William D Hopkins ◽  
Elizabeth S Herrelko ◽  
Miho Inoue-Murayama ◽  
Tetsuro Matsuzawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Pan Troglodytes ◽  
Nonhuman Primate ◽  
Social Bonds ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Protective Effects ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Individual Fitness ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Over Time

Life history strategies for optimizing individual fitness fall on a spectrum between maximizing reproductive efforts and maintaining physical health over time. Strategies across this spectrum are viable and different suites of personality traits evolved to support these strategies. Using data from 538 captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) we tested whether any of the dimensions of chimpanzee personality – agreeableness, conscientiousness, dominance, extraversion, neuroticism, and openness – were associated with longevity, an attribute of slow life history strategies that is especially important in primates given their relatively long lives. We found that higher agreeableness was related to longevity in males, with weaker evidence suggesting that higher openness is related to longer life in females. Our results link the literature on human and nonhuman primate survival and suggest that, for males, evolution has favored the protective effects of low aggression and high quality social bonds.

scholarly journals Leaf economics guides slow-fast adaptation across the geographic range of A. thaliana

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Sartori ◽  
François Vasseur ◽  
Cyrille Violle ◽  
Etienne Baron ◽  
Marianne Gerard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Carbon Assimilation ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Phenotypic Differentiation ◽  
Relative Growth ◽  
Leaf Economics Spectrum ◽  
Whole Plant ◽  
Leaf Level ◽  
Fast Adaptation ◽  
Leaf Economics

SummaryThe slow-fast continuum describes how resource allocation constrains life-history strategies in many organisms. In plants, it is reflected by a trade-off at the leaf level between the rate of carbon assimilation and lifespan, the so-called Leaf Economics Spectrum (LES). However, it is still unclear how the LES is connected to the slow-fast syndrome, and reflects adaptation to climate. Here, we measured growth, morpho-physiological and life-history traits at both leaf and whole-plant levels in 384 natural accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana. We examined the extent to which the LES continuum parallels the slow-fast continuum, and compared trait variation to neutral genetic differentiation between lineages. We found that the LES is tightly linked to variation in whole-plant functioning, relative growth rate and life history. A genetic analysis further suggested that phenotypic differentiation is linked to the evolution of different slow-fast strategies in contrasted climates. Together, our findings shed light on the physiological bases of the slow-fast continuum, and its role for plant adaptation to climate.

Ultrastructure of Fibroblast Cultures, Lymphocytes, and Liver in Mucopolysaccharidoses Types I, II, III, IV, and VI.

1970 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 204-205
Author(s):  
George Hug ◽  
William K. Schubert ◽  
Shirley Soukup
Keyword(s):  
Lysosomal Enzyme ◽  
Apparent Lack ◽  
Fibroblast Cultures ◽  
Lysosomal Diseases ◽  
Disease Specificity ◽  
Deficient Activity

McKusick subdivided the syndrome of mucopolysaccharidoses into six types according to clinical, roentenographic, and genetic criteria and to the kind of mucopolysaccharide(s) excreted in the urine (1). Deficient activity of a lysosomal enzyme, (β-galactosidase, has recently been reported in types I, II and III of mucopolysaccharidoses as well as in generalized gangliosidosis (2). This apparent lack of disease specificity makes the enzymatic deficiency difficult to interpret. Nevertheless, the involvement of a lysosomal enzyme tends to characterize these disorders as lysosomal diseases.

“The Unconscious” in Current Psychology

2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 193-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Norman
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Psychology ◽  
Verbal Report ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Operational Definition ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Apparent Lack ◽  
Unconscious Processing ◽  
Unconscious Processes ◽  
Intermediate States ◽  
Definition Of

A series of vignette examples taken from psychological research on motivation, emotion, decision making, and attitudes illustrates how the influence of unconscious processes is often measured in a range of different behaviors. However, the selected studies share an apparent lack of explicit operational definition of what is meant by consciousness, and there seems to be substantial disagreement about the properties of conscious versus unconscious processing: Consciousness is sometimes equated with attention, sometimes with verbal report ability, and sometimes operationalized in terms of behavioral dissociations between different performance measures. Moreover, the examples all seem to share a dichotomous view of conscious and unconscious processes as being qualitatively different. It is suggested that cognitive research on consciousness can help resolve the apparent disagreement about how to define and measure unconscious processing, as is illustrated by a selection of operational definitions and empirical findings from modern cognitive psychology. These empirical findings also point to the existence of intermediate states of conscious awareness, not easily classifiable as either purely conscious or purely unconscious. Recent hypotheses from cognitive psychology, supplemented with models from social, developmental, and clinical psychology, are then presented all of which are compatible with the view of consciousness as a graded rather than an all-or-none phenomenon. Such a view of consciousness would open up for explorations of intermediate states of awareness in addition to more purely conscious or purely unconscious states and thereby increase our understanding of the seemingly “unconscious” aspects of mental life.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document