Project description:the goal of this experiment is to identify the molecular modules that underlie social phenotypes in A. burtoni Keywords: loop design comparison of dominant (T) subordinate (NT) and brooding female (F) phenotypes 6 individuals of each phenotype under normal mixed population conditions
Project description:Comparison of social dominance phenotypes induced in the cichlid A. burtoni females with the goal of comparing to other gene expression profiles of social dominance Used platform GPL928 In many species, under varying ecological conditions, social interactions among individuals result in the formation dominance hierarchies. Despite general similarities, there are substantial differences across species, populations, environments, life stages, sexes, and individuals. Understanding the proximate mechanisms of this variation is an important step toward understanding the evolution of social behavior. However, physiological changes associated with dominance such as gonadal maturation and somatic growth, often complicate efforts to identify the specific underlying mechanisms. We demonstrate complementary analysis tools to allow a comparative approach to high-throughput expression profiling that allow us to both test a priori hypotheses and generate new hypotheses about the mechanisms and evolution of social dominance. Using experimental manipulation to produce female dominance hierarchies in the cichlid A. burtoni, heralded as a genomic model of social dominance, we generate gene lists, and assess molecular gene modules. We demonstrate a general pattern of “masculinization” of the female neural gene expression profile and compare expression biases between male and female dominance hierarchies. Using a threshold-free approach to identify correlation throughout gene ranked lists, we query previously published datasets from maternal behavior, alternative reproductive tactics, cooperative breeding and sex-role reversal to describe correlations among neural gene expression profiles. These complementary approaches capitalize on the high-throughput gene expression profiling from similar behavioral phenotypes in order to address the mechanism associated with social dominance behavioral phenotypes.