Behavioral Genomics

Given rapid advances in genomic techniques we are now able to assay, at the whole genome level, gene expression level, genomic content and epigenetic state for a broad range of organisms not previously amenable to genetic/genomic techniques. Genetic systems that underlie sensory processing, emotion and motivation, neuronal development and plasticity are all essential for generating behaviors. By studying how these genetic programs vary between and within species we can begin to understand how they giving rise to behavioral diversity.

We will cover 7 topics this semester. Each topic will span two weeks and each week we will discuss 2 topics. (bear with me, this is a bit confusing) Each week a student pair will select a review paper and a primary research paper on which to give an interactive presentation. This will be a power point presentation integrating the review paper and the primary research paper. The student audience will question and discuss. The following week a different student pair will select another primary research paper related to the previous week’s review paper. That student pair will lead a discussion on the paper. The whole class will be responsible for working through the questions, methods, data, and interpretation. This is a discussion, not a presentation.

Over the course of the semester student pairs will do one presentation and lead one discussion.  These will be two different topics.  

Each week there will be a total of 3 papers to read. Students should expect to spend 4-6 hours outside of class each week that they are not presenting/leading and more time the weeks that they are presenting/leading. All papers should be selected at least 1 week ahead.

Students pairs will also prepare a “Who-is-Who” for each of the papers. This and bringing food are fun and easy.

The following list is a suggestion of primary research papers and related review articles. Students are by no means restricted to this list. It is simply meant as a guide.

Primary Research Paper in Behavioral Genomics Related Review Article
Lovell, P. V., Carleton, J. B. & Mello, C. V. 2013. Genomics analysis of potassium channel genes in songbirds reveals molecular specializations of brain circuits for the maintenance and production of learned vocalizations. BMC Genomics, 14:1-28. Clayton, D.F. & London, S E. 2014. Advancing avian behavioral neuroendocrinology through genomics. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 35:58-71.
O'Connell, L.A., Hofmann, H.A. 2012. Evolution of a Vertebrate Social Decision-Making Network. Science 336:1154-1157. Rittschof, C. C. & Robinson, G. E. 2014. Genomics: moving behavioural ecology beyond the phenotypic gambit. Animal Behaviour, 92:263-270.
Rey, S., Boltana, S., Vargas, R., Roher, N. & MacKenzie, S. 2013. Combining animal personalities with transcriptomics resolves individual variation within a wild-type zebrafish population and identifies underpinning molecular differences in brain function. Molecular Ecology, 22:6100-6115. Dall, S.R.X., Bell, A.M., Bolnick, D.I., Tarnieks, F.L.W. 2012. An evolutionary ecology of individual differences. Ecology Letters 15:1189-1198.
Fraser, B. A., Janowitz, I., Thairu, M., Travis, J. & Hughes, K. A. 2014. Phenotypic and genomic plasticity of alternative male reproductive tactics in sailfin mollies. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 281: Pfennig, D.W., Wund, M.A., Snell-Rood, E.C., Cruickshank, T., Schlichting, C.D., Moczek, A.P. 2010 Phenotypic plasticity's impacts on diversification an speciation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 25:459-467.
Runcie, D. E., Wiedmann, R. T., Archie, E. A., Altmann, J., Wray, G. A., Alberts, S. C. & Tung, J. 2013. Social environment influences the relationship between genotype and gene expression in wild baboons. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 368: Tung, J., & Gilad, Y., 2013. Social environmental effects on gene regulation. Cellular and Molcular Life Sciences 70:4323-4339.
Psychiatric disorders are not my expertise, so you are on your own for finding a good paper in this area. Gratten, J., Wray, N. R., Keller, M. C. & Visscher, P. M. 2014. Large-scale genomics unveils the genetic architecture of psychiatric disorders. Nature Neuroscience, 17:782-790.

Mouse models are not my expertise, so you are on your own for finding a good paper in this area.

Hitzemann, R., Bottomly, D., Iancu, O., Buck, K., Wilmot, B., Mooney, M., Searles, R., Zheng, C., Belknap, J., Crabbe, J. & McWeeney, S. 2014. The genetics of gene expression in complex mouse crosses as a tool to study the molecular underpinnings of behavior traits. Mammalian Genome. 25:12-22.
Konopka, G., Friedrich, T., Davis-Turak, J., Winden K, Oldha, M,C,. Gao, F., Chen, L., Wang, G,Z., Luo, R., Preus,s T.M., Geschwind, D.H. 2012 Human-specific transcriptional networks in the brain. Neuron 75:601–617. Usui, N., Co, M., & Konopka, G. 2014 Decoding the molecular evolution of human cognition using comparative genomics. Brain Behav Evol 84:103.116.
Pan, P., Fleming, A.S., Lawson, D., Jenkins, J.M., McGowan, P.O., 2014. Within- and Between-Litter Maternal Care Alter Behavior and Gene Regulation in Female Offspring. Behavioral Neuroscience 128:736-748. Szyf, M. 2013. DNA Methylation, Behavior and Early Life Adversity. Journal of Genetics and Genomics, 40:331-338.
Garfield, A.S., Cowley, M., Smith, F.M., Moorwoodm K., 2011. Distinct physiological and behavioural functions for parental alleles of imprinted Grb10. Nature 469:534–8. Curley, J.P. 2011 Is there a genomically imprinted social brain? Bioessays 33:662-668.
Hollis, B., Houle, D., Yan, Z., Kawecki, T.J., Keller, L. 2014 Evolution under monogamy feminizes gene expression in Drosophila melanogaster. Nature Comm. 5:3482. Wilkinson, G.S, Breden, F., Mank, J.E., Ritchie, M.G., Higginson, A., Radwan, J., Jaquiery, J., Salzburger, W., Arriero, E., Barribeau, S., Phillips, P., Renn, S.C.P., Rowe, L. 2015 in press The locus of sexual selection: moving sexual selection studies into the post-genomics era. Submitted to J. Evol. Biol.
Feldmeyer, B., Elsner, D. & Foitzik, S. 2014. Gene expression patterns associated with caste and reproductive status in ants: worker-specific genes are more derived than queen-specific ones. Molecular Ecology, 23:151-161. LeBoeuf, A. C., Benton, R. & Keller, L. 2013. The molecular basis of social behavior: models, methods and advances. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 23:3-10.