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Rovegno E, Lucon-Xiccato T, Terrin F, Valle LD, Bertolucci C. Knockout in zebrafish reveals the role of the glucocorticoid receptor in shaping behavioral syndromes. Behav Brain Res 2024; 473:115179. [PMID: 39103124 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.115179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2024] [Revised: 07/03/2024] [Accepted: 08/02/2024] [Indexed: 08/07/2024]
Abstract
Glucocorticoids (GCs) have a wide spectrum of effects on animal behavior. A recently suggested effect involves determining the structure of individual differences, that is how the behavioral traits of an individual covary, forming the so-called behavioral syndromes. As GCs can exert their action in multiple ways, e.g., via rapid non-genomic effects or via the activation of two highly homologous members of the steroid receptor family acting as transcription factors, it is unclear how the GC modulation of behavioral syndromes takes place. We exploited a zebrafish line with a frameshift mutation in the gene encoding the GC receptor (Gr), to investigate this question. We found that lack of Gr altered the average score of several behavioral traits in the mutant line, determining reduced boldness, and increased activity and sociability. Critically, the pattern of covariation between these traits was also substantially affected by the loss of Gr. The most evident effect was an association of traits involved in boldness in the gr mutant line. This study reveals that, in zebrafish, Gr is not only involved in the modulation of the average value of behavioral traits, but also in how the behavioral traits of an individual are interrelated and determine the behavioral syndromes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleonora Rovegno
- Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
| | - Tyrone Lucon-Xiccato
- Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | | | | | - Cristiano Bertolucci
- Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
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2
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Tkaczynski PJ, Mafessoni F, Girard-Buttoz C, Samuni L, Ackermann CY, Fedurek P, Gomes C, Hobaiter C, Löhrich T, Manin V, Preis A, Valé PD, Wessling EG, Wittiger L, Zommers Z, Zuberbuehler K, Vigilant L, Deschner T, Wittig RM, Crockford C. Shared community effects and the non-genetic maternal environment shape cortisol levels in wild chimpanzees. Commun Biol 2023; 6:565. [PMID: 37237178 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-04909-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2022] [Accepted: 05/03/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Mechanisms of inheritance remain poorly defined for many fitness-mediating traits, especially in long-lived animals with protracted development. Using 6,123 urinary samples from 170 wild chimpanzees, we examined the contributions of genetics, non-genetic maternal effects, and shared community effects on variation in cortisol levels, an established predictor of survival in long-lived primates. Despite evidence for consistent individual variation in cortisol levels across years, between-group effects were more influential and made an overwhelming contribution to variation in this trait. Focusing on within-group variation, non-genetic maternal effects accounted for 8% of the individual differences in average cortisol levels, significantly more than that attributable to genetic factors, which was indistinguishable from zero. These maternal effects are consistent with a primary role of a shared environment in shaping physiology. For chimpanzees, and perhaps other species with long life histories, community and maternal effects appear more relevant than genetic inheritance in shaping key physiological traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick J Tkaczynski
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
- School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.
| | - Fabrizio Mafessoni
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
- Weizmann Institute of Science, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Rehovot, Israel.
| | - Cédric Girard-Buttoz
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
- The Ape Social Mind Lab, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, CNRS UMR 5229, Lyon, France
| | - Liran Samuni
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolution, School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - Corinne Y Ackermann
- Universite de Neuchatel, Institut de Biologie, Cognition Compare, Neuchatel, Switzerland
| | - Pawel Fedurek
- Division of Psychology, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
| | - Cristina Gomes
- Tropical Conservation Institute, Institute of Environment, College of Arts, Science and Education, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Catherine Hobaiter
- Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolution, School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - Therese Löhrich
- World Wide Fund for Nature, Dzanga Sangha Protected Areas, BP 1053, Bangui, Central African Republic
- Robert Koch Institute, Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms, Berlin, Germany
| | - Virgile Manin
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
| | - Anna Preis
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
| | - Prince D Valé
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
- Unité de Formation et de Recherche Agroferesterie, Université Jean Lorougnon Guédé, Daloa, Côte d'Ivoire
| | - Erin G Wessling
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - Zinta Zommers
- Perry World House, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
| | - Klaus Zuberbuehler
- Universite de Neuchatel, Institut de Biologie, Cognition Compare, Neuchatel, Switzerland
| | - Linda Vigilant
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tobias Deschner
- Institute of Cognitive Science, Comparative BioCognition, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Roman M Wittig
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
- The Ape Social Mind Lab, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, CNRS UMR 5229, Lyon, France
| | - Catherine Crockford
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
- The Ape Social Mind Lab, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, CNRS UMR 5229, Lyon, France
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3
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Duckworth RA, Chenard KC, Meza L, Beiriz MC. Coping styles vary with species' sociality and life history: A systematic review and meta-regression analysis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 151:105241. [PMID: 37216998 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Revised: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 05/17/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Despite a long history of animal studies investigating coping styles, the causal connections between behavior and stress physiology remain unclear. Consistency across taxa in effect sizes would support the idea of a direct causal link maintained by either functional or developmental dependencies. Alternatively, lack of consistency would suggest coping styles are evolutionarily labile. Here, we investigated correlations between personality traits and baseline and stress-induced glucocorticoid levels using a systematic review and meta-analysis. Most personality traits did not consistently vary with either baseline or stress-induced glucocorticoids. Only aggression and sociability showed a consistent negative correlation with baseline glucocorticoids. We found that life history variation affected the relationship between stress-induced glucocorticoid levels and personality traits, especially anxiety and aggression. The relationship between anxiety and baseline glucocorticoids depended on species' sociality with solitary species showing more positive effect sizes. Thus, integration between behavioral and physiological traits depends on species' sociality and life history and suggests high evolutionary lability of coping styles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renée A Duckworth
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
| | - Kathryn C Chenard
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
| | - Lexis Meza
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
| | - Maria Carolina Beiriz
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA; Department of Ecology and Natural Resources, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, CE 60440-900, Brazil
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Pritchard AJ, Palombit RA. Survey-rated personality traits and experimentally measured coping style and stress reactivity, in wild baboons. Am J Primatol 2022; 84:e23429. [PMID: 35996313 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2022] [Revised: 06/26/2022] [Accepted: 07/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The coping style and stress reactivity framework for individual differences in the stress response has been of increasing utility within primatological research. Such differences are often quantified using an experimental approach, but many primatological studies have historically been reliant on a personality-like framework. The personality-like research is derived from human personality literature using survey ratings, while approaches focused on coping styles are often used to interpret differences in small rodents and birds. Experimental approaches benefit from a constrained situation that facilitates control, but sacrifice utility via the generalizability afforded via ratings. Resolving how these two theoretical and methodological approaches intersect is paramount to establishing a biological synthesis between two robust fields of research on individual differences. We applied these frameworks to adult wild olive baboons (Papio anubis) at a field site in Laikipia, Kenya. We quantified coping style and stress reactivity using individually targeted field experiments. We quantified personality trait differences using observer ratings of the monkeys. We isolated three personality trait factors: Neuroticism, Assertiveness, and Friendliness. Personality trait differences showed little association with coping style, but Neuroticism was predicted by stress reactivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander J Pritchard
- Department of Anthropology, Program in Human Evolutionary Sciences, Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.,Center for Human Evolutionary Sciences, Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.,National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Ryne A Palombit
- Department of Anthropology, Program in Human Evolutionary Sciences, Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.,Center for Human Evolutionary Sciences, Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
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5
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Christensen C, Bracken AM, Justin O'Riain M, Heistermann M, King AJ, Fürtbauer I. Simultaneous investigation of urinary and faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations reveals short- versus long-term drivers of HPA-axis activity in a wild primate (Papio ursinus). Gen Comp Endocrinol 2022; 318:113985. [PMID: 35093315 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2022.113985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2021] [Revised: 01/07/2022] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Glucocorticoids (GCs), a class of steroid hormones released through activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, perform many vital functions essential for survival, including orchestrating an organism's response to stressors by modulating physiological and behavioural responses. Assessing changes and variation in GC metabolites from faecal or urine samples allows for the non-invasive monitoring of HPA-axis activity across vertebrates. The time lag of hormone excretion differs between these sample matrices, which has implications for their suitability for studying effects of different temporal nature on HPA-axis activity. However, simultaneous comparisons of predictors of faecal and urinary GC metabolites (fGCs and uGCs, respectively) are lacking. To address this gap, we employ frequent non-invasive sampling to investigate correlates of fGCs and uGCs in wild chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) (n = 17), including long-term (dominance rank, season, female reproductive state) and short-term (time of day, daily weather conditions) factors. Correlated with increasing day length, fGCs gradually decreased from winter to summer. No seasonal effect on uGCs was found but 'rain days' were associated with increased uGCs. Pregnant females had significantly higher fGCs compared to cycling and lactating females, whereas uGCs were not statistically different across reproductive states. A circadian effect was observed in uGCs but not in fGCs. Dominance rank did not affect either fGCs or uGCs. Our study highlights the difference in inherent fluctuation between uGCs and fGCs and its potential consequences for HPA-axis activity monitoring. While uGCs offer the opportunity to study short-term effects, they undergo more pronounced fluctuations, reducing their ability to capture long-term effects. Given the increasing use of urine for biological monitoring, knowledge of this potential limitation is crucial. Where possible, uGCs and fGCs should be monitored in tandem to obtain a comprehensive understanding of short- and long-term drivers of HPA-axis activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte Christensen
- Biosciences, School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Swansea University, SA2 8PP Swansea, UK.
| | - Anna M Bracken
- Biosciences, School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Swansea University, SA2 8PP Swansea, UK
| | - M Justin O'Riain
- Institute for Communities and Wildlife in Africa, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
| | | | - Andrew J King
- Biosciences, School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Swansea University, SA2 8PP Swansea, UK
| | - Ines Fürtbauer
- Biosciences, School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Swansea University, SA2 8PP Swansea, UK
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Measuring behavioral coping style and stress reactivity experimentally in wild olive baboons. Behav Processes 2021; 195:104564. [PMID: 34915059 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2021.104564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2021] [Revised: 11/18/2021] [Accepted: 12/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Many nonhuman animals have been used as subjects to elucidate intra-individual variation in the stress response - understood via coping styles and stress reactivity. Given the evidence and theory supporting evolutionary trade-offs associated with such differences, it is surprising, then, how few studies have used wild nonhuman primates to develop this theoretical framework. In the current study, we evaluated this framework using a combination of behaviours from focal follows and an experimental method, novel to the field - collected during a 17 month project on olive baboons (Papio anubis) in Laikipia, Kenya. Our experimental design simultaneously introduces a risk with an incentive: a model snake with a real chicken egg, respectively. Such an approach facilitates multiple solutions to a stressor, a key element of coping style theory. General behavioral tendencies did not associate with the experimental measures of coping style and stress reactivity. These results, however, demonstrated the utility and validity of this experimental approach for measuring coping style and stress reactivity in wild nonhumans. Fear grimaces represented stress reactivity. A factor solution represented coping style - summarizing decision making under stress. The treatment experiment, with a snake and egg, elicited a behavioral stress response, relative to control trials with just an egg.
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Developmental conditions promote individual differentiation of endocrine axes and behavior in a tropical pinniped. Oecologia 2020; 195:25-35. [PMID: 33340345 PMCID: PMC7882553 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-020-04815-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2020] [Accepted: 12/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Between-individual variation in behavior can emerge through complex interactions between state-related mechanisms, which include internal physiological constraints or feedback derived from the external environment. State-related conditions can be especially influential during early life, when parental effort and exposure to social stress may canalize consistent differences in offspring hormonal profiles and foster specific behavioral strategies. Here, we unravel how relevant state variables, including sex, somatic condition, local population density, and maternal traits, contribute to within-cohort differences in stress, sex, and thyroid hormone axes in dependent Galapagos sea lions with the primary goal of understanding downstream effects on boldness, docility, habitat use, and activity. Pups within denser natal sites had higher levels of cortisol and thyroid T4, a prohormone and proxy for metabolic reserves, likely as an adaptive physiological response after exposure to increased numbers of conspecific interactions. Furthermore, considering maternal effects, mothers in better body condition produced pups with higher testosterone yet downregulated basal cortisol and thyroid T4. This hormonal profile was correlated with increased boldness toward novel objects and attenuated stress responsiveness during capture. Intriguingly, pups with increased thyroid T3, the biologically active form, maintained faster somatic growth and were observed to have increased activity and extensively explored surrounding habitats. Collectively, these findings provide comprehensive evidence for several links to hormone-mediated behavioral strategies, highlighted by variation in socio-environmental and maternally derived input during a foundational life stage.
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Tkaczynski PJ, Ross C, Lehmann J, Mouna M, Majolo B, MacLarnon A. Repeatable glucocorticoid expression is associated with behavioural syndromes in males but not females in a wild primate. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2019; 6:190256. [PMID: 31598282 PMCID: PMC6774951 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.190256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2019] [Accepted: 08/08/2019] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Behavioural syndromes are a well-established phenomenon in human and non-human animal behavioural ecology. However, the mechanisms that lead to correlations among behaviours and individual consistency in their expression at the apparent expense of behavioural plasticity remain unclear. The 'state-dependent' hypothesis posits that inter-individual variation in behaviour arises from inter-individual variation in state and that the relative stability of these states within an individual leads to consistency of behaviour. The endocrine stress response, in part mediated by glucocorticoids (GCs), is a proposed behavioural syndrome-associated state as GC levels are linked to an individual's behavioural responses to stressors. In this study, in wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus), consistent inter-individual differences were observed in both sexes for GC activity (faecal glucocorticoid, fGC concentrations), but not GC variation (coefficient of variation in fGC concentrations). The expression of the behavioural syndrome 'Excitability' (characterized by the frequencies of brief affiliation or aggressive interactions) was related to GC activity in males but not in females; more 'excitable' males had lower GC activity. There was no relationship in females between any of the behavioural syndromes and GC activity, nor in either sex with GC variation. The negative relationship between GC activity and Excitability in males provides some support for GC expression as a behavioural syndrome-generating state under the state-dependent framework. The absence of this relationship in females highlights that state-behavioural syndrome associations may not be generalizable within a species and that broader sex differences in state need to be considered for understanding the emergence and maintenance of behavioural syndromes.
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Affiliation(s)
- P. J. Tkaczynski
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Centre for Research in Evolutionary, Social and Inter-Disciplinary Anthropology, University of Roehampton, Holybourne Avenue, London SW15 4JD, UK
| | - C. Ross
- Centre for Research in Evolutionary, Social and Inter-Disciplinary Anthropology, University of Roehampton, Holybourne Avenue, London SW15 4JD, UK
| | - J. Lehmann
- Centre for Research in Evolutionary, Social and Inter-Disciplinary Anthropology, University of Roehampton, Holybourne Avenue, London SW15 4JD, UK
| | - M. Mouna
- Mohammed V University, Institut Scientifique, Rabat, Morocco
| | - B. Majolo
- School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK
| | - A. MacLarnon
- Centre for Research in Evolutionary, Social and Inter-Disciplinary Anthropology, University of Roehampton, Holybourne Avenue, London SW15 4JD, UK
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