Effects of serta and sertb knockout on aggression in zebrafish (Danio rerio).
J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol
; 2024 Feb 28.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38416162
ABSTRACT
Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are unusual in having two paralogues of the serotonin re-uptake transporter (Sert), slc6a4a (serta) and slc6a4b (sertb), the transporter that serves in serotonin re-uptake from a synapse into the pre-synaptic cell or in serotonin uptake from the extracellular milieu into cells in the peripheral tissues. To address a knowledge gap concerning the specific roles of these paralogues, we used CRISPR/Cas9 technology to generate zebrafish knockout lines predicted to lack functional expression of Serta or Sertb. The consequences of loss-of-function of Serta or Sertb were assessed at the gene expression level, focusing on the serotonergic signalling pathway, and at the behaviour level, focusing on aggression. Whereas serta mRNA was expressed in all tissues examined, with high expression in the heart, gill and brain, only the brain displayed substantial sertb mRNA expression. In both serta-/- and sertb-/- fish, changes in transcript abundances of multiple components of the serotonin signalling pathway were detected, including proteins involved in serotonin synthesis (tph1a, tph1b, tph2, ddc), packaging (vmat2) and degradation (mao), and serotonin receptors (htr1aa, htr1ab). Using a mirror aggression test, serta-/- male but not female fish exhibited greater aggression than wildtype fish. However, both male and female sertb-/- fish displayed less aggression than their wildtype counterparts. These differences in behaviour between serta-/- and sertb-/- individuals hold promise for increasing our understanding of the neurophysiological basis of aggression in zebrafish.
Texto completo:
1
Bases de dados:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol
Assunto da revista:
CIENCIAS DO COMPORTAMENTO
/
NEUROLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Canadá