Taeniopygia guttata
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ABSTRACT:
PROVIDER: PRJNA153101 | ENA |
REPOSITORIES: ENA
Similar Datasets
Project description:Developmental shifts in gene expression in the auditory forebrain during the sensitive period for song learning
| PRJNA153663 | ENA
Project description:Weighted gene coexpression analysis of RNA-seq data from 65d juvenile Area X and adjacent non-song ventral striatopallidum (VSP).
| PRJNA379914 | ENA
Project description:Similarities between speech and birdsong make songbirds advantageous for investigating the neurogenetics of learned vocal communication; a complex phenotype likely supported by ensembles of interacting genes in cortico-basal ganglia pathways of both species. To date, only FoxP2 has been identified as critical to both speech and birdsong. We performed weighted gene co-expression network analysis on microarray data from singing zebra finches to discover gene ensembles regulated during vocal behavior. We found ~2,000 singing- regulated genes comprising 3 co-expression groups unique to area X, the basal ganglia subregion dedicated to learned vocal-motor behavior. These contained known targets of human FOXP2 and potential avian targets. We validated novel biological pathways for vocalization. Our findings show that higher-order gene co-expression patterns, rather than expression levels, molecularly distinguish area X from the ventral striato-pallidum during singing. The previously unknown structure of singing-driven networks enables prioritization of molecular interactors that likely bear on human motor disorders, especially those affecting speech. Gene expression was measured in 2 basal ganglia sub-regions (area X & ventral striato-pallidum (VSP)) of 27 adult male zebra finches that sang different amounts of song over a 2hr period in the morning. 18 birds were allowed to sing freely, 9 birds were discouraged from singing by the presence of an investigator and those that sang fewer than 10 song motifs were considered “non-singers”.
2012-01-04 | E-GEOD-34819 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:When females mate promiscuously, female sperm storage provides scope to bias the fertilization success towards particular males via the non-random acceptance and utilization of sperm. The difficulties observing post-copulatory processes within the female reproductive tract mean that the mechanisms underlying cryptic female choice remain poorly understood. Here, we use zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata, selected for divergent sperm lengths, combined with a novel technique for isolating and extracting sperm from avian sperm storage tubules (SSTs), to test the hypothesis that sperm from separate ejaculates are stored differentially by female birds. We show that sperm from different inseminations enter different SSTs in the female reproductive tract, resulting in almost complete segregation of the sperm of competing males. We propose that non-random acceptance of sperm into SSTs, reflected in this case by sperm phenotype, provides a mechanism by which long sperm enjoy enhanced fertilization success in zebra finches.
| S-EPMC5563812 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Fast moving animals depend on cues derived from the optic flow on their retina. Optic flow from translational locomotion includes information about the three-dimensional composition of the environment, while optic flow experienced during a rotational self motion does not. Thus, a saccadic gaze strategy that segregates rotations from translational movements during locomotion will facilitate extraction of spatial information from the visual input. We analysed whether birds use such a strategy by highspeed video recording zebra finches from two directions during an obstacle avoidance task. Each frame of the recording was examined to derive position and orientation of the beak in three-dimensional space. The data show that in all flights the head orientation was shifted in a saccadic fashion and was kept straight between saccades. Therefore, birds use a gaze strategy that actively stabilizes their gaze during translation to simplify optic flow based navigation. This is the first evidence of birds actively optimizing optic flow during flight.
| S-EPMC2600564 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Inbreeding depression, or the reduction in fitness due to mating between close relatives, is a key issue in biology today. Inbreeding negatively affects many fitness-related traits, including survival and reproductive success. Despite this, very few studies have quantified the effects of inbreeding on vertebrate gamete traits under controlled breeding conditions using a full-sib mating approach. Here, we provide comprehensive evidence for the negative effect of inbreeding on sperm traits in a bird, the zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata. We compared sperm characteristics of both inbred (pedigree F = 0.25) and outbred (pedigree F = 0) individuals from two captive populations, one domesticated and one recently wild-derived, raised under standardized conditions. As normal spermatozoa morphology did not differ consistently between inbred and outbred individuals, our study confirms the hypothesis that sperm morphology is not particularly susceptible to inbreeding depression. Inbreeding did, however, lead to significantly lower sperm motility and a substantially higher percentage of abnormal spermatozoa in ejaculate. These results were consistent across both study populations, confirming the generality and reliability of our findings.
| S-EPMC4716522 | biostudies-literature
Project description:As is the case for human speech, birdsong is transmitted across generations by imitative learning. Although transfer of song patterns from adults to juveniles typically occurs via vertical or oblique transmission, there is also evidence of horizontal transmission between juveniles of the same generation. Here, we show that a young male zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) that has been exposed to its father during the sensitive period for song learning can lead a brother, that has never heard the paternal song, to imitate some sounds of the father. Moreover, song similarity between the two brothers was higher than the similarity measured between the paternal song and the song of the brother that had a week-long exposure to the father. We speculate that the phenomenon of within-generation song learning among juveniles may be more widespread than previously thought and that when a juvenile evaluates potential models for imitative learning, a sibling may be as salient as an adult.
| S-EPMC3730634 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Mercury contamination from mining and fossil fuel combustion causes damage to humans and animals worldwide. Mercury exposure has been implicated in mammalian hearing impairment, but its effect on avian hearing is unknown. In this study, we examined whether lifetime dietary mercury exposure affected hearing in domestic zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) by studying their auditory brainstem responses (ABRs). Zebra finches exposed to mercury exhibited elevated hearing thresholds, decreased amplitudes, and longer latencies in the ABR, the first evidence of mercury-induced hearing impairment in birds. Birds are a more appropriate model for the human auditory spectrum than most mammals because of similarities in frequency discrimination, vocal learning, and communication behavior. When mercury is considered in combination with other anthropogenic stressors such as noise pollution and habitat alteration, the hearing impairments we document here could substantially degrade avian auditory communication in wild birds.
| S-EPMC5532180 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Benchmarking ultra-high molecular weight DNA preservation methods for long-read and long-range sequencing
| PRJDB13233 | ENA