Genetic Determinants of Behaviour Flashcards

1
Q

Do genes or the environment play more of a role in behaviour?

A

Both - they interact and both influence variation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What is an example of natural variants?

A

Drosophila rover and sitter alleles - rovers disperse across food patches and sitters stay in one

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Why might the rover-sitter polymorphism persist?

A

Frequency-dependent selection where fitness changes based on food patch availability

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What happens when there is a high abundance of food?

A

Higher reproductive success of sitters

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What happens when there is a low abundance of food?

A

Higher reproductive success of sitters

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Why do population differences cause different behaviours?

A

Ecologically discrete populations differ in both environment and genetics (allele frequencies)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Give an example where different populations have displayed different behaviours

A

Shoaling behaviour in guppies - guppies that are more used to being at risk of predation shoal more tightly in lab standardised conditions when alarmed

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What are innate behaviours?

A

Behaviours that are performed from birth - they can be adjusted by learning through life

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Give an example of innate behaviours

A

Laughing gull (Larus atricilla) chicks peck parents beak to be fed from birth but their accuracy improves with age (learned)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Give an example of cross fostering behaviours

A

Cross fostered blue and great tits (child swap) - song repertoire large with aspects from birth parents and foster parents

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

How is heritability used to figure out the determinants of resemblance?

A

Use known relationships and measure resemblance - if variation between full siblings, siblings and unrelated individuals then large genetic component; if variation is similar then large environmental component

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Give an example of heritability experiments

A

Ballooning spiders - fly using webs and wind - enabled by genetics but how often they balloon depends on parents

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What are isolines?

A

Make clones by inbreeding lines for many generations until individuals from that line are pretty much identical

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Give an example of when isolines have been used to investigate the determinants for behaviour

A

200 inbred lines of Drosophila, fully sequenced and then tested for traits and SNPs (increased gene component = same behaviour; increased environment component = different behaviour)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

How is artificial selection used to test for determinants of behaviour?

A

For heritable behaviour, impose a selection pressure (pick the individuals that get to mate) and measure how behaviour changes in subsequent generations

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Give an example of when artificial selection has been used to investigate the determinants for behaviour

A

Flight capacity in beet army worm moths - long fliers breed with long fliers and produce offspring who fly for longer

17
Q

How does gene expression help uncover the determinants for behaviour?

A

Measure gene expression using RNAseq (whole transcriptome) or qRT-PCR (single gene): an increase or decrease in gene expression.

18
Q

Give an example of when gene expression has been used to investigate determinants for behaviour

A

Burying beetles and parenting - sequence the transcriptome and analyse differences between parental and bi-parental beetles (867 genes differentially expressed)

19
Q

How do classical mutants help uncover the determinants of behaviour?

A

Induce mutations by x-ray or chemical mutagenesis

20
Q

Give an example of when classical mutants have been used to investigate the determinants of behaviour

A

Fruitless and male courtship in Drosophila - induce males with fruitless gene so that can’t distinguish male and females so flies mate indiscriminately (genetic component).

21
Q

What is RNAinterference?

A

Knock down gene expression by co-opting the cell’s antiviral machinery to cleve double stranded DNA

22
Q

Describe the in vitro process of RNAi

A
  1. Selection of target gene for gene silencing
  2. Designing si/shRNA specific to target gene
  3. Selecting a plasmid or vector
  4. Introducing the dsRNA to cells
  5. Gene expression assay
23
Q

Give an example of when RNAi has been used to investigate the determinants of behaviour

A

Trp-A1 gene and heat avoidance in flour beetle - Arena 50% good temperature, 50% too warm; non mutants go to good side; mutants 50/50 don’t recognise the difference - gene associated with temperature recognition

24
Q

What is phenotypic plasticity?

A

Where a genotype can make many phenotypes

25
Give an example of when phenotypic plasticity has been used to investigate the determinants for behaviour
Drosophila learning and memory - short, medium and long term memory and anaesthesia-resistant memory
26
What are the three mutant or knockdown flies training tests?
1. T-maze odour assay 2. Visual learning 3. Complex courtship assay
27
What is the T-maze odour assay?
Reward in one arm, shock in the other - in future flies avoid the arm with the shock
28
Give an example of visual learning in flies
Comfortable cold patch marked with dot, when dot is moved to non cold dot, the flies still go to the dot
29
What is the complex courtship assay?
Males more attracted to females who haven't mated, because they have more chance of reproductive success (selective advantage)
30
What is epigenetics?
Non-coding modifications of DNA could link environmental cues with behaviour, by making genes more or less available for expression
31
Give two examples of epigenetics
DNA methylation and histone modification
32
Give an example of when epigenetics has been used to investigate the determinants for behaviour
Maternal care by rats - only parents (mothers) change in methylation of BDNF gene across generations - poor treatment leads to poor treatment of offspring
33
Describe the epigenetic control of caste differentiation in carpenter ants
Soldier ants vs forager ants - knocking down Rpd3 alters histone acetylation and makes majors more likely to forage
34
How does behaviour drive or reinforce speciation
Assortative mating of Heliconius - QTL mapping identifies 3 loci which drive male courtship preference