Genetic association with boldness and maternal performance in a free-ranging population of grey seals (Halichoerus grypus).

ABSTRACT: Individual variation in quantitative traits clearly influence many ecological and evolutionary processes. Moderate to high heritability estimates of personality and life-history traits suggest some level of genetic control over these traits. Yet, we know very little of the underlying genetic architecture of phenotypic variation in the wild. In this study, we used a candidate gene approach to investigate the association of genetic variants with repeated measures of boldness and maternal performance traits (weaning mass and lactation duration) collected over an 11- and 28-year period, respectively, in a free-ranging population of grey seals on Sable Island National Park Reserve, Canada. We isolated and re-sequenced five genes: dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4), serotonin transporter (SERT), oxytoc

SUBMITTER: Bubac CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8249389 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature