文章基本信息

标题：A supergene-linked estrogen receptor drives alternative phenotypes in a polymorphic songbird
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作者：Jennifer R. Merritt ; Kathleen E. Grogan ; Wendy M. Zinzow-Kramer 等
期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：2020
卷号：117
期号：35
页码：21673-21680
DOI：10.1073/pnas.2011347117
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：Behavioral evolution relies on genetic changes, yet few behaviors can be traced to specific genetic sequences in vertebrates. Here we provide experimental evidence showing that differentiation of a single gene has contributed to the evolution of divergent behavioral phenotypes in the white-throated sparrow, a common backyard songbird. In this species, a series of chromosomal inversions has formed a supergene that segregates with an aggressive phenotype. The supergene has captured ESR1 , the gene that encodes estrogen receptor α (ERα); as a result, this gene is accumulating changes that now distinguish the supergene allele from the standard allele. Our results show that in birds of the more aggressive phenotype, ERα knockdown caused a phenotypic change to that of the less aggressive phenotype. We next showed that in a free-living population, aggression is predicted by allelic imbalance favoring the supergene allele. Finally, we identified cis -regulatory features, both genetic and epigenetic, that explain the allelic imbalance. This work provides a rare illustration of how genotypic divergence has led to behavioral phenotypic divergence in a vertebrate.
关键词：chromosomal inversion ; songbird ; social behavior