Dataset Information

Mate preference of female blue tits varies with experimental photoperiod.

ABSTRACT: Organisms use environmental cues to time their life-cycles and among these cues, photoperiod is the main trigger of reproductive behaviours such as territory defence or song activity. Whether photoperiod is also important for another behaviour closely associated with reproduction, mate choice, is unknown. In many bird species, mate choice occurs at two different times during the annual cycle that strongly differ in daylength: in late winter when photoperiod is short and social mates are chosen, and again around egg-laying when photoperiod is longer and extra-pair mates are chosen. This duality makes the role that photoperiod plays on mate choice behaviours intriguing. We investigated the effect of photoperiod on mate choice using three experimental photoperiodic treatments (9 L:15 D, 14 L:10 D, 18 L:6 D), using blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) as a biological model. We show that female choice was stronger under long photoperiods. In addition, female blue tits spent significantly more time near males with long tarsi and long wings. This latter preference was only expressed under long photoperiods, suggesting that some indices of male quality only become significant to females when they are strongly photostimulated, and therefore that females could select their social and extra-pair mates based on different phenotypic traits. These results shed light on the roles that photoperiod may play in stimulating pair-bonding and in refining female selectivity for male traits.

SUBMITTER: Reparaz LB

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3966787 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Mate preference of female blue tits varies with experimental photoperiod.

Reparaz Laura B LB van Oers Kees K Naguib Marc M Doutrelant Claire C Visser Marcel E ME Caro Samuel P SP

PloS one 20140326 3

Organisms use environmental cues to time their life-cycles and among these cues, photoperiod is the main trigger of reproductive behaviours such as territory defence or song activity. Whether photoperiod is also important for another behaviour closely associated with reproduction, mate choice, is unknown. In many bird species, mate choice occurs at two different times during the annual cycle that strongly differ in daylength: in late winter when photoperiod is short and social mates are chosen, ...[more]

PMID: 24671133

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Project description:Sensory and social inputs interact with underlying gene suites to coordinate social behavior. Here we use a naturally complex system in sexual selection studies, the swordtail, to explore how genes associated with mate preference, receptivity, and social affiliation interact in the female brain under specific social conditions. We focused on 11 genes associated with mate preference in this species (neuroserpin, neuroligin-3, NMDA receptor, tPA, stathmin-2, ?-1 adrenergic receptor) or with female sociosexual behaviors in other taxa (vasotocin, isotocin, brain aromatase, ?-1 adrenergic receptor, tyrosine hydroxylase). We exposed females to four social conditions, including pairings of differing mate choice complexity (large males, large/small males, small males), and a social control (two females). Female mate preference differed significantly by context. Multiple discriminant analysis (MDA) of behaviors revealed a primary axis (explaining 50.2% between-group variance) highlighting differences between groups eliciting high preference behaviors (LL, LS) vs. other contexts, and a secondary axis capturing general measures distinguishing a non-favored group (SS) from other groups. Gene expression MDA revealed a major axis (68.4% between-group variance) that distinguished amongst differential male pairings and was driven by suites of "preference and receptivity genes"; whereas a second axis, distinguishing high affiliation groups (large males, females) from low (small males), was characterized by traditional affiliative-associated genes (isotocin, vasotocin). We found context-specific correlations between behavior and gene MDA, suggesting gene suites covary with behaviors in a socially relevant context. Distinct associations between "affiliative" and "preference" axes suggest mate preference may be mediated by distinct clusters from those of social affiliation. Our results highlight the need to incorporate natural complexity of mating systems into behavioral genomics.

Dataset Information

Mate preference of female blue tits varies with experimental photoperiod.

Publications

Mate preference of female blue tits varies with experimental photoperiod.

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