1. |
- Corral-Lopez, Alberto, 1984-, et al.
(author)
-
Evolution of schooling drives changes in neuroanatomy and motion characteristics across predation contexts in guppies
- 2023
-
In: Nature Communications. - : Springer Nature. - 2041-1723. ; 14
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- One of the most spectacular displays of social behavior is the synchronized movements that many animal groups perform to travel, forage and escape from predators. However, elucidating the neural mechanisms underlying the evolution of collective behaviors, as well as their fitness effects, remains challenging. Here, we study collective motion patterns with and without predation threat and predator inspection behavior in guppies experimentally selected for divergence in polarization, an important ecological driver of coordinated movement in fish. We find that groups from artificially selected lines remain more polarized than control groups in the presence of a threat. Neuroanatomical measurements of polarization-selected individuals indicate changes in brain regions previously suggested to be important regulators of perception, fear and attention, and motor response. Additional visual acuity and temporal resolution tests performed in polarization-selected and control individuals indicate that observed differences in predator inspection and schooling behavior should not be attributable to changes in visual perception, but rather are more likely the result of the more efficient relay of sensory input in the brain of polarization-selected fish. Our findings highlight that brain morphology may play a fundamental role in the evolution of coordinated movement and anti-predator behavior.
|
|
2. |
- Corral-López, Alberto, 1984-, et al.
(author)
-
Functional convergence of genomic and transcriptomic architecture underlies schooling behaviour in a live-bearing fish
- 2024
-
In: Nature Ecology and Evolution. - : Springer Nature. - 2397-334X. ; 8:1, s. 98-110
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The organization and coordination of fish schools provide a valuable model to investigate the genetic architecture of affiliative behaviours and dissect the mechanisms underlying social behaviours and personalities. Here we used replicate guppy selection lines that vary in schooling propensity and combine quantitative genetics with genomic and transcriptomic analyses to investigate the genetic basis of sociability phenotypes. We show that consistent with findings in collective motion patterns, experimental evolution of schooling propensity increased the sociability of female, but not male, guppies when swimming with unfamiliar conspecifics. This finding highlights a relevant link between coordinated motion and sociability for species forming fission–fusion societies in which both group size and the type of social interactions are dynamic across space and time. We further show that alignment and attraction, the two major traits forming the sociability personality axis in this species, showed heritability estimates at the upper end of the range previously described for social behaviours, with important variation across sexes. The results from both Pool-seq and RNA-seq data indicated that genes involved in neuron migration and synaptic function were instrumental in the evolution of sociability, highlighting a crucial role of glutamatergic synaptic function and calcium-dependent signalling processes in the evolution of schooling.
|
|
3. |
- Kotrschal, Alexander, et al.
(author)
-
Brain size does not impact shoaling dynamics in unfamiliar groups of guppies (Poecilia reticulata)
- 2018
-
In: Behavioural Processes. - : Elsevier BV. - 0376-6357 .- 1872-8308. ; 147, s. 13-20
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Collective movement is achieved when individuals adopt local rules to interact with their neighbours. How the brain processes information about neighbours' positions and movements may affect how individuals interact in groups. As brain size can determine such information processing it should impact collective animal movement. Here we investigate whether brain size affects the structure and organisation of newly forming fish shoals by quantifying the collective movement of guppies (Poecilia reticulata) from large- and small-brained selection lines, with known differences in learning and memory. We used automated tracking software to determine shoaling behaviour of single-sex groups of eight or two fish and found no evidence that brain size affected the speed, group size, or spatial and directional organisation of fish shoals. Our results suggest that brain size does not play an important role in how fish interact with each other in these types of moving groups of unfamiliar individuals. Based on these results, we propose that shoal dynamics are likely to be governed by relatively basic cognitive processes that do not differ in these brain size selected lines of guppies.
|
|
4. |
- Kotrschal, Alexander, et al.
(author)
-
Evolution of brain region volumes during artificial selection for relative brain size
- 2017
-
In: Evolution. - : Wiley. - 0014-3820 .- 1558-5646. ; 71:12, s. 2942-2951
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The vertebrate brain shows an extremely conserved layout across taxa. Still, the relative sizes of separate brain regions vary markedly between species. One interesting pattern is that larger brains seem associated with increased relative sizes only of certain brain regions, for instance telencephalon and cerebellum. Till now, the evolutionary association between separate brain regions and overall brain size is based on comparative evidence and remains experimentally untested. Here, we test the evolutionary response of brain regions to directional selection on brain size in guppies (Poecilia reticulata) selected for large and small relative brain size. In these animals, artificial selection led to a fast response in relative brain size, while body size remained unchanged. We use microcomputer tomography to investigate how the volumes of 11 main brain regions respond to selection for larger versus smaller brains. We found no differences in relative brain region volumes between large- and small-brained animals and only minor sex-specific variation. Also, selection did not change allometric scaling between brain and brain region sizes. Our results suggest that brain regions respond similarly to strong directional selection on relative brain size, which indicates that brain anatomy variation in contemporary species most likely stem from direct selection on key regions.
|
|
5. |
- Kotrschal, Alexander, et al.
(author)
-
Rapid evolution of coordinated and collective movement in response to artificial selection
- 2020
-
In: Science Advances. - : AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE. - 2375-2548. ; 6:49
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Collective motion occurs when individuals use social interaction rules to respond to the movements and positions of their neighbors. How readily these social decisions are shaped by selection remains unknown. Through artificial selection on fish (guppies, Poecilia reticulata) for increased group polarization, we demonstrate rapid evolution in how individuals use social interaction rules. Within only three generations, groups of polarization-selected females showed a 15% increase in polarization, coupled with increased cohesiveness, compared to fish from control lines. Although lines did not differ in their physical swimming ability or exploratory behavior, polarization-selected fish adopted faster speeds, particularly in social contexts, and showed stronger alignment and attraction responses to multiple neighbors. Our results reveal the social interaction rules that change when collective behavior evolves.
|
|
6. |
|
|
7. |
- Tsuboi, Masahito, et al.
(author)
-
Comparative support for the expensive tissue hypothesis : Big brains are correlated with smaller gut and greater parental investment in Lake Tanganyika cichlids
- 2015
-
In: Evolution. - : Wiley. - 0014-3820 .- 1558-5646. ; 69:1, s. 190-200
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The brain is one of the most energetically expensive organs in the vertebrate body. Consequently, the energetic requirements of encephalization are suggested to impose considerable constraints on brain size evolution. Three main hypotheses concerning how energetic constraints might affect brain evolution predict covariation between brain investment and (1) investment into other costly tissues, (2) overall metabolic rate, and (3) reproductive investment. To date, these hypotheses have mainly been tested in homeothermic animals and the existing data are inconclusive. However, there are good reasons to believe that energetic limitations might play a role in large-scale patterns of brain size evolution also in ectothermic vertebrates. Here, we test these hypotheses in a group of ectothermic vertebrates, the Lake Tanganyika cichlid fishes. After controlling for the effect of shared ancestry and confounding ecological variables, we find a negative association between brain size and gut size. Furthermore, we find that the evolution of a larger brain is accompanied by increased reproductive investment into egg size and parental care. Our results indicate that the energetic costs of encephalization may be an important general factor involved in the evolution of brain size also in ectothermic vertebrates.
|
|
8. |
- Tsuboi, Masahito, 1985-, et al.
(author)
-
Evolution of brain-body allometry in Lake Tanganyika cichlids.
- 2016
-
In: Evolution. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0014-3820 .- 1558-5646. ; 70:7, s. 1559-1568
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Brain size is strongly associated with body size in all vertebrates. This relationship has been hypothesized to be an important constraint on adaptive brain size evolution. The essential assumption behind this idea is that static (i.e., within species) brain-body allometry has low ability to evolve. However, recent studies have reported mixed support for this view. Here, we examine brain-body static allometry in Lake Tanganyika cichlids using a phylogenetic comparative framework. We found considerable variation in the static allometric intercept, which explained the majority of variation in absolute and relative brain size. In contrast, the slope of the brain-body static allometry had relatively low variation, which explained less variation in absolute and relative brain size compared to the intercept and body size. Further examination of the tempo and mode of evolution of static allometric parameters confirmed these observations. Moreover, the estimated evolutionary parameters indicate that the limited observed variation in the static allometric slope could be a result of strong stabilizing selection. Overall, our findings suggest that the brain-body static allometric slope may represent an evolutionary constraint in Lake Tanganyika cichlids.
|
|
9. |
- Bloch, Natasha I., et al.
(author)
-
Different mating contexts lead to extensive rewiring of female brain coexpression networks in the guppy
- 2021
-
In: Genes, Brain and Behavior. - : Wiley. - 1601-1848 .- 1601-183X. ; 20:3
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Understanding the basis of behavior requires dissecting the complex waves of gene expression that underlie how the brain processes stimuli and produces an appropriate response. In order to determine the dynamic nature of the neurogenomic network underlying mate choice, we use transcriptome sequencing to capture the female neurogenomic response in two brain regions involved in sensory processing and decision-making under different mating and social contexts. We use differential coexpression (DC) analysis to evaluate how gene networks in the brain are rewired when a female evaluates attractive and nonattractive males, greatly extending current single-gene approaches to assess changes in the broader gene regulatory network. We find the brain experiences a remarkable amount of network rewiring in the different mating and social contexts we tested. Further analysis indicates the network differences across contexts are associated with behaviorally relevant functions and pathways, particularly learning, memory and other cognitive functions. Finally, we identify the loci that display social context-dependent connections, revealing the basis of how relevant neurological and metabolic pathways are differentially recruited in distinct social contexts. More broadly, our findings contribute to our understanding of the genetics of mating and social behavior by identifying gene drivers behind behavioral neural processes, illustrating the utility of DC analysis in neurosciences and behavior.
|
|
10. |
- Bloch, Natasha, I, et al.
(author)
-
Early neurogenomic response associated with variation in guppy female mate preference
- 2018
-
In: Nature Ecology & Evolution. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-334X. ; 2:11, s. 1772-1781
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Understanding the evolution of mate choice requires dissecting the mechanisms of female preference, particularly how these differ among social contexts and preference phenotypes. Here, we studied the female neurogenomic response after only 10 min of mate exposure in both a sensory component (optic tectum) and a decision-making component (telencephalon) of the brain. By comparing the transcriptional response between females with and without preferences for colourful males, we identified unique neurogenomic elements associated with the female preference phenotype that are not present in females without preference. A network analysis revealed different properties for this response at the sensory-processing and the decision-making levels, and we show that this response is highly centralized in the telencephalon. Furthermore, we identified an additional set of genes that vary in expression across social contexts, beyond mate evaluation. We show that transcription factors among these loci are predicted to regulate the transcriptional response of the genes we found to be associated with female preference.
|
|