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Sanders AR, Bhongir N, vonHoldt B, Pellegrini M. Association of DNA methylation with energy and fear-related behaviors in canines. Front Psychol 2022; 13:1025494. [PMID: 36591016 PMCID: PMC9794564 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1025494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction Behavioral traits are influenced by gene by environment interactions. To study the genetic and epigenetic components of behavior, we analyzed whether dog behavioral traits could be predicted by their DNA methylation and genotypes. Methods We conducted an analysis on dog behaviors such as sociability, trainability and energy as measured by Canine Behavioral and Research Assessment Questionnaire (C-BARQ) behavioral surveys paired with buccal swabs from 46 dogs. Previously we used targeted bisulfite sequencing to analyze DNA methylation and collected genotype data from over 1,500 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Owner-reported C-BARQ responses were used to quantify 14 behavioral trait values. Results Using Partial Least Squares (PLS) Regression analysis we found behavioral traits such as energy, attachment/attention-seeking, non-social fear, and stranger-directed fear to be significantly associated with DNA methylation across 3,059 loci. After we adjusted for age as a confounding variable, energy and stranger-directed fear remained significantly associated with methylation. We found that most behavioral traits were not predictable by our limited set of SNPs. Discussion By identifying individual genes whose methylation is significantly associated with behavioral traits, we generate hypotheses about possible mechanisms involved in behavioral regulation. Overall, our study extends previous work in behavioral epigenetics, shows that canine behaviors are predictable by DNA methylation, and serves as a proof of concept for future studies in behavioral epigenetics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abigail R. Sanders
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Neha Bhongir
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Bridgett vonHoldt
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States
| | - Matteo Pellegrini
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States,*Correspondence: Matteo Pellegrini,
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The Interaction between Serotonin Transporter Allelic Variation and Maternal Care Modulates Instagram Sociability in a Sample of Singaporean Users. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph19095348. [PMID: 35564743 PMCID: PMC9105050 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19095348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2022] [Revised: 04/12/2022] [Accepted: 04/24/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Human social interactions ensure recognition and approval from others, both in offline and online environments. This study applies a model from behavioral genetics on Instagram sociability to explore the impact of individual development on behavior on social networks. We hypothesize that sociable attitudes on Instagram resulted from an interaction between serotonin transporter gene alleles and the individual’s social relationship with caregivers. We assess the environmental and genetic components of 57 Instagram users. The self-report questionnaire Parental Bonding Instrument is adopted to determine the quality of parental bonding. The number of posts, followed users (“followings”), and followers are collected from Instagram as measures of online social activity. Additionally, the ratio between the number of followers and followings (“Social Desirability Index”) was calculated to estimate the asymmetry of each user’s social network. Finally, buccal mucosa cell samples were acquired, and the polymorphism rs25531 (T/T homozygotes vs. C-carriers) within the serotonin transporter gene was examined. In the preliminary analysis, we identified a gender effect on the number of followings. In addition, we specifically found a gene–environment interaction on the standardized Instagram “Social Desirability Index” in line with our predictions. Users with the genotype more sensitive to environmental influences (T/T homozygotes) showed a higher Instagram “Social Desirability Index” than nonsensitive ones (C-carriers) when they experienced positive maternal care. This result may contribute to understanding online social behavior from a gene*environment perspective.
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Szpiech ZA, Novak TE, Bailey NP, Stevison LS. Application of a novel haplotype-based scan for local adaptation to study high-altitude adaptation in rhesus macaques. Evol Lett 2021; 5:408-421. [PMID: 34367665 PMCID: PMC8327953 DOI: 10.1002/evl3.232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2020] [Revised: 02/24/2021] [Accepted: 05/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
When natural populations split and migrate to different environments, they may experience different selection pressures that can lead to local adaptation. To capture the genomic patterns of a local selective sweep, we develop XP-nSL, a genomic scan for local adaptation that compares haplotype patterns between two populations. We show that XP-nSL has power to detect ongoing and recently completed hard and soft sweeps, and we then apply this statistic to search for evidence of adaptation to high altitude in rhesus macaques. We analyze the whole genomes of 23 wild rhesus macaques captured at high altitude (mean altitude > 4000 m above sea level) to 22 wild rhesus macaques captured at low altitude (mean altitude < 500 m above sea level) and find evidence of local adaptation in the high-altitude population at or near 303 known genes and several unannotated regions. We find the strongest signal for adaptation at EGLN1, a classic target for convergent evolution in several species living in low oxygen environments. Furthermore, many of the 303 genes are involved in processes related to hypoxia, regulation of ROS, DNA damage repair, synaptic signaling, and metabolism. These results suggest that, beyond adapting via a beneficial mutation in one single gene, adaptation to high altitude in rhesus macaques is polygenic and spread across numerous important biological systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary A Szpiech
- Department of Biology Pennsylvania State University University Park Pennsylvania 16801.,Institute for Computational and Data Sciences Pennsylvania State University University Park Pennsylvania 16801.,Department of Biological Sciences Auburn University Auburn Ala 36842 USA
| | - Taylor E Novak
- Department of Biological Sciences Auburn University Auburn Ala 36842 USA
| | - Nick P Bailey
- Department of Biological Sciences Auburn University Auburn Ala 36842 USA
| | - Laurie S Stevison
- Department of Biological Sciences Auburn University Auburn Ala 36842 USA
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A biocultural approach to psychiatric illnesses. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2019; 236:2923-2936. [PMID: 30721322 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-019-5178-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2018] [Accepted: 01/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE As a species, humans are vulnerable to numerous mental disorders, including depression and schizophrenia. This susceptibility may be due to the evolution of our large, complex brains, or perhaps because these illnesses counterintuitively confer some adaptive advantage. Additionally, cultural and biological factors may contribute to susceptibility and variation in mental illness experience and expression. Taking a holistic perspective could strengthen our understanding of these illnesses in diverse cultural contexts. OBJECTIVES This paper reviews some of these potential factors and contextualizes mental disorders within a biocultural framework. RESULTS There is growing evidence that suggests cultural norms may influence inflammation, neurotransmitters, and neurobiology, as well as the illness experience. Specific examples include variation in schizophrenia delusions between countries, differences in links between inflammation and emotion between the United States and Japan, and differences in brain activity between Caucasian and Asian participants indicating that cultural values may moderate cognitive processes related to social cognition and interoception. CONCLUSIONS Research agendas that are grounded in an appreciation of biocultural diversity as it relates to psychiatric illness represent key areas for truly interdisciplinary research that can result in culturally sensitive treatments and highlight possible biological variation affecting medical treatment.
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6
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Thompson NA, Cords M. Early life maternal sociality predicts juvenile sociality in blue monkeys. Am J Primatol 2019; 82:e23039. [PMID: 31373721 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2019] [Revised: 06/13/2019] [Accepted: 07/14/2019] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Maternal effects are widespread in living organisms though little is known about whether they shape individual affiliative social behavior in primates. Further, it remains a question whether maternal effects on affiliative behavior differ by offspring sex, as they do in other physiological systems, especially in species with high levels of adult sexual dimorphism and divergence in social niches. We explored how direct and indirect experiences of maternal affiliative behavior during infancy predicted affiliative behavior approximately 1-6 years later during the juvenile period, using behavioral data from 41 wild blue monkey juveniles and their 29 mothers, and controlling for individual age, sex, and maternal rank. Female juveniles spent less time grooming with any partner and with peers the more maternal grooming they received during infancy, whereas males groomed more with any partner and with peers. Similarly, the more that mothers groomed with other adult females during subjects' infancy, female subjects played less with peers, and male subjects played more as juveniles. Further, this maternal effect on social behavior appears specific to early life, as the same aspects of mothers' sociality measured throughout subjects' development did not predict juvenile behavior. Overall, our results suggest that both direct and indirect experience of mother's affiliative behavior during infancy influence an individual's affiliation later in life that sexes respond differently to the maternal affiliation, and that the first year of life is a critical window.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole A Thompson
- Department of Ecology Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, New York.,New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, New York.,Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
| | - Marina Cords
- Department of Ecology Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, New York.,New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, New York
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Comasco E, Schijven D, de Maeyer H, Vrettou M, Nylander I, Sundström-Poromaa I, Olivier JDA. Constitutive Serotonin Transporter Reduction Resembles Maternal Separation with Regard to Stress-Related Gene Expression. ACS Chem Neurosci 2019; 10:3132-3142. [PMID: 30614673 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.8b00595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Interactive effects between allelic variants of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) promoter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) and stressors on depression symptoms have been documented, as well as questioned, by meta-analyses. Translational models of constitutive 5-htt reduction and experimentally controlled stressors often led to inconsistent behavioral and molecular findings and often did not include females. The present study sought to investigate the effect of 5-htt genotype, maternal separation, and sex on the expression of stress-related candidate genes in the rat hippocampus and frontal cortex. The mRNA expression levels of Avp, Pomc, Crh, Crhbp, Crhr1, Bdnf, Ntrk2, Maoa, Maob, and Comt were assessed in the hippocampus and frontal cortex of 5-htt ± and 5-htt +/+ male and female adult rats exposed, or not, to daily maternal separation for 180 min during the first 2 postnatal weeks. Gene- and brain region-dependent, but sex-independent, interactions between 5-htt genotype and maternal separation were found. Gene expression levels were higher in 5-htt +/+ rats not exposed to maternal separation compared with the other experimental groups. Maternal separation and 5-htt +/- genotype did not yield additive effects on gene expression. Correlative relationships, mainly positive, were observed within, but not across, brain regions in all groups except in non-maternally separated 5-htt +/+ rats. Gene expression patterns in the hippocampus and frontal cortex of rats exposed to maternal separation resembled the ones observed in rats with reduced 5-htt expression regardless of sex. These results suggest that floor effects of 5-htt reduction and maternal separation might explain inconsistent findings in humans and rodents.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Jocelien D. A. Olivier
- Department Neurobiology, Unit Behavioural Neuroscience, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen 9712 CP, The Netherlands
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Abstract
Abstract
Play is an important and understudied class of phenomena that likely serves a critical role in the ontogeny and maintenance of fitness-enhancing behaviors. Many species exhibit little or no play. Among those animals that do play, some exhibit only very simple forms, while others engage in complex play both solitarily and socially. Likewise, some animals play only as juveniles, while others continue to play as adults. We propose a general framework to explain interspecies variation in the evolution and emergence of simple vs. complex forms of play, supported by both a review of the empirical evidence and a novel mathematical model. The emergence of play requires that initial investment returns benefits that sufficiently compensate the opportunity costs associated with simple play. The subsequent evolution of complex play depends upon the interplay of several life-history factors related to the benefits, costs, and time course of play investment. We conclude with implications for understanding the evolution of play across the animal kingdom.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul E Smaldino
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced, CA, USA
| | - Elisabetta Palagi
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa. Lungarno Antonio Pacinotti, Pisa PI, Italy
| | - Gordon M Burghardt
- Departments of Psychology and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
| | - Sergio M Pellis
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada
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Madrid JE, Mandalaywala TM, Coyne SP, Ahloy-Dallaire J, Garner JP, Barr CS, Maestripieri D, Parker KJ. Adaptive developmental plasticity in rhesus macaques: the serotonin transporter gene interacts with maternal care to affect juvenile social behaviour. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 285:rspb.2018.0541. [PMID: 29925616 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.0541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2018] [Accepted: 05/24/2018] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Research has increasingly highlighted the role that developmental plasticity-the ability of a particular genotype to produce variable phenotypes in response to different early environments-plays as an adaptive mechanism. One of the most widely studied genetic contributors to developmental plasticity in humans and rhesus macaques is a serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR), which determines transcriptional efficiency of the serotonin transporter gene in vitro and modifies the availability of synaptic serotonin in these species. A majority of studies to date have shown that carriers of a loss-of-function variant of the 5-HTTLPR, the short (s) allele, develop a stress-reactive phenotype in response to adverse early environments compared with long (l) allele homozygotes, leading to the prevalent conceptualization of the s-allele as a vulnerability allele. However, this framework fails to address the independent evolution of these loss-of-function mutations in both humans and macaques as well as the high population prevalence of s-alleles in both species. Here we show in free-ranging rhesus macaques that s-allele carriers benefit more from supportive early social environments than l-allele homozygotes, such that s-allele carriers which receive higher levels of maternal protection during infancy demonstrate greater social competence later in life. These findings provide, to our knowledge, the first empirical support for the assertion that the s-allele grants high undirected biological sensitivity to context in primates and suggest a mechanism through which the 5-HTTLPR s-allele is maintained in primate populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesus E Madrid
- Neurosciences Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA .,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Tara M Mandalaywala
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - Sean P Coyne
- Department of Psychology, Notre Dame of Maryland University, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA
| | - Jamie Ahloy-Dallaire
- Department of Comparative Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Joseph P Garner
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.,Department of Comparative Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Christina S Barr
- National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Dario Maestripieri
- Department of Comparative Human Development, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.,Institute for Mind and Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Karen J Parker
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
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Developing individual differences in primate behavior: the role of genes, environment, and their interplay. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-019-2633-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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