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Shi Z, Zhang Z, Schaffer L, Huang Z, Fu L, Head S, Gaasterland T, Wang X, Li X. Dynamic transcriptome landscape in the song nucleus HVC between juvenile and adult zebra finches. ADVANCED GENETICS (HOBOKEN, N.J.) 2021; 2:e10035. [PMID: 36618441 PMCID: PMC9744550 DOI: 10.1002/ggn2.10035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2019] [Revised: 09/25/2020] [Accepted: 10/15/2020] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Male juvenile zebra finches learn to sing by imitating songs of adult males early in life. The development of the song control circuit and song learning and maturation are highly intertwined processes, involving gene expression, neurogenesis, circuit formation, synaptic modification, and sensory-motor learning. To better understand the genetic and genomic mechanisms underlying these events, we used RNA-Seq to examine genome-wide transcriptomes in the song control nucleus HVC of male juvenile (45 d) and adult (100 d) zebra finches. We report that gene groups related to axon guidance, RNA processing, lipid metabolism, and mitochondrial functions show enriched expression in juvenile HVC compared to the rest of the brain. As juveniles mature into adulthood, massive gene expression changes occur. Expression of genes related to amino acid metabolism, cell cycle, and mitochondrial function is reduced, accompanied by increased and enriched expression of genes with synaptic functions, including genes related to G-protein signaling, neurotransmitter receptors, transport of small molecules, and potassium channels. Unexpectedly, a group of genes with immune system functions is also developmentally regulated, suggesting potential roles in the development and functions of HVC. These data will serve as a rich resource for investigations into the development and function of a neural circuit that controls vocal behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhimin Shi
- Neuroscience Center of ExcellenceLouisiana State University School of MedicineNew OrleansLouisianaUSA
| | - Zeyu Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Genetic Network BiologyInstitute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina,University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | | | - Zhi Huang
- Neuroscience Center of ExcellenceLouisiana State University School of MedicineNew OrleansLouisianaUSA
| | - Lijuan Fu
- Neuroscience Center of ExcellenceLouisiana State University School of MedicineNew OrleansLouisianaUSA,Present address:
California Medical Innovations InstituteSan DiegoCaliforniaUSA
| | - Steven Head
- Scripps Research InstituteLa JollaCaliforniaUSA
| | - Terry Gaasterland
- Scripps Research InstituteLa JollaCaliforniaUSA,University of California at San DiegoLa JollaCaliforniaUSA
| | - Xiu‐Jie Wang
- Key Laboratory of Genetic Network BiologyInstitute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina,University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - XiaoChing Li
- Neuroscience Center of ExcellenceLouisiana State University School of MedicineNew OrleansLouisianaUSA
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Lorena J, Olson CR, Fontana CS, Mello CV, Schneider MPC, Schneider PN. Seasonal changes in the song control nuclei of the Rufous-bellied Thrush, Turdus rufiventris (Oscine, Passeriformes, and Turdidae). JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART B-MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION 2019; 332:92-98. [PMID: 31004403 DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22853] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2018] [Revised: 02/25/2019] [Accepted: 03/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
In vocal learning birds, memorization and song production rely on a set of telencephalic nuclei referred to as the song control system. Seasonal changes in song production are correlated with changes in the volume of the song control nuclei and are influenced by photoperiodic conditions and hormonal cues. The seasonal volume changes in the avian brain that controls singing are thought to involve regulation of neuronal replacement, which is a striking example of neuronal plasticity. The Rufous-bellied Thrush (Turdus rufiventris) is a seasonally breeding bird that actively sings during the spring and summer (breeding season) and is relatively silent in the fall, yet possible mechanisms behind the periodic changes in song production remain unknown. Here, we have examined two song control nuclei: High vocal center (HVC) and robust nucleus of arcopallium (RA) in fall males, spring males, and fall females of Rufous-bellied Thrush. The cytoarchitectonic organization was analyzed and quantified from Nissl-stained sections, and gene expression of song nuclei markers was examined by in situ hybridization during breeding and nonbreeding seasons. We observed a reduction in HVC volume and reductions in parvalbumin, and RGS4 expression in HVC and RA in males during the nonbreeding season. These findings provide evidence of seasonal changes in the song system of a representative tropical-breeding Turdidae species that does not maintain territories or mate bonding, setting the histological and molecular groundwork for future studies aimed at better understanding of song nuclei changes in seasonally breeding songbirds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamily Lorena
- Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Centro de Genômica e Biologia de Sistemas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil
| | | | - Carla S Fontana
- Museu de Ciência e Tecnologia, Laboratório de Ornitologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Claudio V Mello
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon
| | - Maria Paula C Schneider
- Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Centro de Genômica e Biologia de Sistemas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil
| | - Patricia N Schneider
- Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Centro de Genômica e Biologia de Sistemas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil
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Negwer M, Schubert D. Talking Convergence: Growing Evidence Links FOXP2 and Retinoic Acid in Shaping Speech-Related Motor Circuitry. Front Neurosci 2017; 11:19. [PMID: 28179876 PMCID: PMC5263127 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2017.00019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2016] [Accepted: 01/10/2017] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Moritz Negwer
- Max Planck Institute for PsycholinguisticsNijmegen, Netherlands
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and BehaviourNijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Dirk Schubert
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and BehaviourNijmegen, Netherlands
- *Correspondence: Dirk Schubert
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Olson CR, Hodges LK, Mello CV. Dynamic gene expression in the song system of zebra finches during the song learning period. Dev Neurobiol 2015; 75:1315-38. [PMID: 25787707 DOI: 10.1002/dneu.22286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2015] [Accepted: 03/09/2015] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
The brain circuitry that controls song learning and production undergoes marked changes in morphology and connectivity during the song learning period in juvenile zebra finches, in parallel to the acquisition, practice and refinement of song. Yet, the genetic programs and timing of regulatory change that establish the neuronal connectivity and plasticity during this critical learning period remain largely undetermined. To address this question, we used in situ hybridization to compare the expression patterns of a set of 30 known robust molecular markers of HVC and/or area X, major telencephalic song nuclei, between adult and juvenile male zebra finches at different ages during development (20, 35, 50 days post-hatch, dph). We found that several of the genes examined undergo substantial changes in expression within HVC or its surrounds, and/or in other song nuclei. They fit into broad patterns of regulation, including those whose expression within HVC during this period increases (COL12A1, COL 21A1, MPZL1, PVALB, and CXCR7) or decreases (e.g., KCNT2, SAP30L), as well as some that show decreased expression in the surrounding tissue with little change within song nuclei (e.g. SV2B, TAC1). These results reveal a broad range of molecular changes that occur in the song system in concert with the song learning period. Some of the genes and pathways identified are potential modulators of the developmental changes associated with the emergence of the adult properties of the song control system, and/or the acquisition of learned vocalizations in songbirds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher R Olson
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road L470, Portland, Oregon, 97239-3098
| | - Lisa K Hodges
- Biology Department, Lewis and Clark College, 0615 S.W. Palatine Hill Road, Portland, Oregon 97219
| | - Claudio V Mello
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road L470, Portland, Oregon, 97239-3098
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Abstract
How the brain coordinates rapid sequences of learned behavior, such as human speech, remains a fundamental problem in neuroscience. Birdsong is a model of such behavior, which is learned and controlled by a neural circuit that spans avian cortex, basal ganglia, and thalamus. The songs of adult male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), produced as rapid sequences of vocal gestures (syllables), are encoded by the cortical premotor region HVC (proper name). While the motor encoding of song within HVC has traditionally been viewed as unitary and distributed, we used an ablation technique to ask whether the sequence and structure of song are processed independently within HVC. Results revealed a functional topography across the medial-lateral axis of HVC. Bilateral ablation of medial HVC induced a positive disruption of song (increase in atypical syllable sequences), whereas bilateral ablation of lateral HVC induced a negative disruption (omission of individual syllables). Bilateral ablation of central HVC either had no effect on song or induced syllable omission, similar to lateral HVC ablation. We then investigated HVC connectivity and found parallel afferent and efferent pathways that transit medial and lateral HVC and converge at vocal motor cortex. In light of recent evidence that syntactic and lexical components of human speech are processed independently by neighboring regions of cortex (Menenti et al., 2012), our demonstration of anatomically distinct pathways that differentially process the sequence and structure of birdsong in parallel suggests that the vertebrate brain relies on a common approach to encode rapid sequences of vocal gestures.
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Roeske TC, Scharff C, Olson CR, Nshdejan A, Mello CV. Long-distance retinoid signaling in the zebra finch brain. PLoS One 2014; 9:e111722. [PMID: 25393898 PMCID: PMC4230966 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0111722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2014] [Accepted: 10/02/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), the main active metabolite of vitamin A, is a powerful signaling molecule that regulates large-scale morphogenetic processes during vertebrate embryonic development, but is also involved post-natally in regulating neural plasticity and cognition. In songbirds, it plays an important role in the maturation of learned song. The distribution of the ATRA-synthesizing enzyme, zRalDH, and of ATRA receptors (RARs) have been described, but information on the distribution of other components of the retinoid signaling pathway is still lacking. To address this gap, we have determined the expression patterns of two obligatory RAR co-receptors, the retinoid X receptors (RXR) α and γ, and of the three ATRA-degrading cytochromes CYP26A1, CYP26B1, and CYP26C1. We have also studied the distribution of zRalDH protein using immunohistochemistry, and generated a refined map of ATRA localization, using a modified reporter cell assay to examine entire brain sections. Our results show that (1) ATRA is more broadly distributed in the brain than previously predicted by the spatially restricted distribution of zRalDH transcripts. This could be due to long-range transport of zRalDH enzyme between different nuclei of the song system: Experimental lesions of putative zRalDH peptide source regions diminish ATRA-induced transcription in target regions. (2) Four telencephalic song nuclei express different and specific subsets of retinoid-related receptors and could be targets of retinoid regulation; in the case of the lateral magnocellular nucleus of the anterior nidopallium (lMAN), receptor expression is dynamically regulated in a circadian and age-dependent manner. (3) High-order auditory areas exhibit a complex distribution of transcripts representing ATRA synthesizing and degrading enzymes and could also be a target of retinoid signaling. Together, our survey across multiple connected song nuclei and auditory brain regions underscores the prominent role of retinoid signaling in modulating the circuitry that underlies the acquisition and production of learned vocalizations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tina C. Roeske
- Department of Psychology, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Constance Scharff
- Department of Animal Behavior, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Christopher R. Olson
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, United States of America
| | - Arpik Nshdejan
- Department of Animal Behavior, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Claudio V. Mello
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, United States of America
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Abstract
Songbirds have unique value as a model for memory and learning. In their natural social life, they communicate through vocalizations that they must learn to produce and recognize. Song communication elicits abrupt changes in gene expression in regions of the forebrain responsible for song perception and production--what is the functional significance of this genomic response? For 20 years, the focus of research was on just a few genes [primarily ZENK, now known as egr1 (early gene response 1)]. Recently, however, DNA microarrays have been developed and applied to songbird behavioral research, and in 2010 the initial draft assembly of the zebra finch genome was published. Together, these new data reveal that the genomic involvement in song processing is far more complex than anticipated. The concepts of neurogenomic computation and biological embedding are introduced as frameworks for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- David F Clayton
- Biological and Experimental Psychology Division, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, United Kingdom;
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Abstract
Neural activity within HVC (proper name), a premotor nucleus of the songbird telencephalon analogous to premotor cortical regions in mammals, controls the temporal structure of learned song in male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). HVC is composed of a superficially isomorphic neuronal mosaic, implying that song is encoded in a distributed network within HVC. Here, we combined HVC microlesions (10% focal ablation) with singing-driven immediate-early gene (IEG) labeling to explore the network architecture of HVC during singing. Microlesions produce a transient disruption of HVC activity that results in a temporary (≈ 1 week) loss of vocal patterning. Results showed an asymmetrical reduction in the density of IEG-labeled cells 3-5 d after microlesions: swaths of unlabeled cells extended rostrally and/or caudally depending on the position of the HVC microlesion. Labeling returned once birds recovered their songs. Axial swaths of unlabeled cells occurred whether microlesions were located at rostral or caudal poles of HVC, indicating that the localized reduction in IEG labeling could not be attributable solely to transection of afferents that enter HVC rostrally. The asymmetrical pattern of reduced IEG labeling could be explained if synaptic connectivity within HVC is organized preferentially within the rostrocaudal axis. In vivo retrograde tracer injections and in vitro stimulation and recording experiments in horizontal slices of HVC confirmed a rostrocaudal organization of HVC neural connectivity. Our findings suggest that HVC contains an axially organized network architecture that may encode the temporal structure of song.
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Lovell PV, Olson CR, Mello CV. Singing under the influence: examining the effects of nutrition and addiction on a learned vocal behavior. Mol Neurobiol 2011; 44:175-84. [PMID: 21340665 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-011-8169-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2010] [Accepted: 02/03/2011] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
The songbird model is widely established in a number of laboratories for the investigation of the neurobiology and development of vocal learning. While vocal learning is rare in the animal kingdom, it is a trait that songbirds share with humans. The neuroanatomical and physiological organization of the brain circuitry that controls learned vocalizations has been extensively characterized, particularly in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). Recently, several powerful molecular and genomic tools have become available in this organism, making it an attractive choice for neurobiologists interested in the neural and genetic basis of a complex learned behavior. Here, we briefly review some of the main features of vocal learning and associated brain structures in zebra finches and comment on some examples that illustrate how themes related to nutrition and addiction can be explored using this model organism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter V Lovell
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, 3181 Sam Jackson Park Rd L470, Portland, OR 97239, USA
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