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1.
Mol Biol Evol ; 40(10)2023 10 04.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37791477

RESUMO

Amphibians are ideal for studying visual system evolution because their biphasic (aquatic and terrestrial) life history and ecological diversity expose them to a broad range of visual conditions. Here, we evaluate signatures of selection on visual opsin genes across Neotropical anurans and focus on three diurnal clades that are well-known for the concurrence of conspicuous colors and chemical defense (i.e., aposematism): poison frogs (Dendrobatidae), Harlequin toads (Bufonidae: Atelopus), and pumpkin toadlets (Brachycephalidae: Brachycephalus). We found evidence of positive selection on 44 amino acid sites in LWS, SWS1, SWS2, and RH1 opsin genes, of which one in LWS and two in RH1 have been previously identified as spectral tuning sites in other vertebrates. Given that anurans have mostly nocturnal habits, the patterns of selection revealed new sites that might be important in spectral tuning for frogs, potentially for adaptation to diurnal habits and for color-based intraspecific communication. Furthermore, we provide evidence that SWS2, normally expressed in rod cells in frogs and some salamanders, has likely been lost in the ancestor of Dendrobatidae, suggesting that under low-light levels, dendrobatids have inferior wavelength discrimination compared to other frogs. This loss might follow the origin of diurnal activity in dendrobatids and could have implications for their behavior. Our analyses show that assessments of opsin diversification in across taxa could expand our understanding of the role of sensory system evolution in ecological adaptation.


Assuntos
Opsinas , Venenos , Animais , Opsinas/genética , Filogenia , Opsinas de Bastonetes/genética
2.
Ecol Evol ; 13(7): e10323, 2023 Jul.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37492456

RESUMO

Social interactions can drive distinct gene expression profiles which may vary by social context. Here we use female sailfin molly fish (Poecilia latipinna) to identify genomic profiles associated with preference behavior in distinct social contexts: male interactions (mate choice) versus female interactions (shoaling partner preference). We measured the behavior of 15 females interacting in a non-contact environment with either two males or two females for 30 min followed by whole-brain transcriptomic profiling by RNA sequencing. We profiled females that exhibited high levels of social affiliation and great variation in preference behavior to identify an order of magnitude more differentially expressed genes associated with behavioral variation than by differences in social context. Using a linear model (limma), we took advantage of the individual variation in preference behavior to identify unique gene sets that exhibited distinct correlational patterns of expression with preference behavior in each social context. By combining limma and weighted gene co-expression network analyses (WGCNA) approaches we identified a refined set of 401 genes robustly associated with mate preference that is independent of shoaling partner preference or general social affiliation. While our refined gene set confirmed neural plasticity pathways involvement in moderating female preference behavior, we also identified a significant proportion of discovered that our preference-associated genes were enriched for 'immune system' gene ontology categories. We hypothesize that the association between mate preference and transcriptomic immune function is driven by the less well-known role of these genes in neural plasticity which is likely involved in higher-order learning and processing during mate choice decisions.

3.
Mar Pollut Bull ; 168: 112438, 2021 Jul.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33991983

RESUMO

Plastic pollution in the ocean is an increasingly detrimental issue for marine organisms. As a form of polarized light pollution, transparent plastic debris may be more visible and pose additional threats to organisms that can detect and interpret polarized light. Plastic can mimic the visual features of common marine prey items, such as transparent gelatinous zooplankton, which may lead to more significant plastic ingestion. We measured, in situ, the polarization and radiance contrast between a transparent plastic bag and gelatinous zooplankton with an underwater video polarimeter. The plastic bag had significantly higher polarization contrast than the gelatinous zooplankton, yet both shared similar radiance contrasts. This higher polarization contrast may contribute to the observed high ingestion rates of transparent plastic by marine organisms. Further study into the connection between polarization-sensitive organisms and plastic ingestion is recommended.


Assuntos
Gelatina , Zooplâncton , Animais , Organismos Aquáticos , Ingestão de Alimentos , Monitoramento Ambiental , Plásticos
4.
Anim Cogn ; 23(4): 655-669, 2020 Jul.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32166514

RESUMO

Given that the sexes often differ in their ecological and sexual selection pressures, sex differences in cognitive properties are likely. While research on sexually dimorphic cognition often focuses on performance, it commonly overlooks how sexes diverge across cognitive domains and in behaviors exhibited during a cognitive task (cognitive style). We tested male and female western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) in three cognitive tasks: associative learning (numerical discrimination), cognitive flexibility (detour task), and spatio-temporal learning (shuttlebox). We characterized statistical relationships between cognitive performances and cognitive style during the associative learning task with measures of anxiety, boldness, exploration, reaction time, and activity. We found sex differences in performance, cognitive style, and the relationships between cognitive domains. Females outperformed males in the spatio-temporal learning task, while the sexes performed equally in associate learning and cognitive flexibility assays. Females (but not males) exhibited a 'fast-exploratory' cognitive style during associative learning trials. Meanwhile, only males showed a significant positive relationship between domains (associative learning and cognitive flexibility). We propose that these sexually dimorphic cognitive traits result from strong sexual conflict in this taxon; and emphasize the need to explore suites of sex-specific cognitive traits and broader comparative work examining sexual selection and cognition.


Assuntos
Ciprinodontiformes , Caracteres Sexuais , Animais , Cognição , Feminino , Aprendizagem , Masculino , Personalidade
5.
Biol Lett ; 15(1): 20180693, 2019 01 31.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30958208

RESUMO

Choice of social group can affect the likelihood of survivorship and reproduction for social species. By joining larger social groups-shoals-small freshwater fish like the mosquitofish Gambusia affinis can reduce predation risk and forage more efficiently. We tested shoal choice in mosquitofish to determine whether such choices are economically rational, i.e. consistent and optimal. Although many studies of decision-making assume rational choice, irrational decision-making is common and occurs across contexts. We tested rationality of shoaling decisions by testing the constant ratio rule, which states that the relative preference for two options should not change in the presence of a third option. Female mosquitofish upheld this rule when tested for shoal preference based on group size. Our results contrast with other studies showing violations of the constant ratio rule in foraging and mate choice decision-making contexts. These results suggest that decisions that immediately influence survivorship or decision-making along a single dimension may favour rational decision-making.


Assuntos
Ciprinodontiformes , Animais , Tomada de Decisões , Feminino , Comportamento Predatório , Reprodução
6.
Horm Behav ; 112: 1-9, 2019 06.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30902535

RESUMO

The nonapeptide oxytocin (and its fish homolog isotocin (IT)) is an evolutionarily-conserved hormone associated with social behaviors across most vertebrate taxa. Oxytocin has traditionally been regarded as a prosocial hormone, but studies on social cognition in mammalian models suggest it may play a more nuanced role in modulating social discrimination based on social salience and stimulus valence. Here we test IT and its role in regulating female social decision-making and anxiety behaviors in a live-bearing fish with a male coercive mating system. Gambusia affinis males engage in a forced mating strategy, with frequent harassment and attempted copulatory thrusts directed towards unwilling females. Exogenous IT produced anxiolytic responses in female G. affinis that altered exploration (time in center of tank) but not time in dark vs. light regions of the tank. Exogenous IT also produced context-specific changes in social tendency: IT-treated G. affinis females spent less time associating with males while association time with conspecific females was not altered. Further, while overall activity levels were not changed by IT treatment, the amount of social behaviors IT-treated females directed towards males, but not females, was reduced. Our results support the social salience hypothesis of oxytocin action in a teleost and suggest that oxytocin's critical input into social cognitive processing is conserved across vertebrate taxa.


Assuntos
Agressão , Aprendizagem da Esquiva/efeitos dos fármacos , Ciprinodontiformes/fisiologia , Ocitocina/análogos & derivados , Comportamento Sexual Animal , Agressão/efeitos dos fármacos , Agressão/fisiologia , Animais , Ansiedade/etiologia , Coerção , Cognição/efeitos dos fármacos , Feminino , Masculino , Ocitocina/farmacologia , Ocitocina/fisiologia , Poecilia/fisiologia , Comportamento Sexual Animal/efeitos dos fármacos , Comportamento Sexual Animal/fisiologia , Comportamento Social
7.
Curr Zool ; 64(4): 471-484, 2018 Aug.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30108628

RESUMO

It has been 25 years since the formalization of the Sensory Drive hypothesis was published in the American Naturalist (1992). Since then, there has been an explosion of research identifying its utility in contributing to our understanding of inter- and intra-specific variation in sensory systems and signaling properties. The main tenet of Sensory Drive is that environmental characteristics will influence the evolutionary trajectory of both sensory (detecting capabilities) and signaling (detectable features and behaviors) traits in predictable directions. We review the accumulating evidence in 154 studies addressing these questions and categorized their approach in terms of testing for environmental influence on sensory tuning, signal characteristics, or both. For the subset of studies that examined sensory tuning, there was greater support for Sensory Drive processes shaping visual than auditory tuning, and it was more prevalent in aquatic than terrestrial habitats. Terrestrial habitats and visual traits were the prevalent habitat and sensory modality in the 104 studies showing support for environmental influence on signaling properties. An additional 19 studies that found no supporting evidence for environmental influence on signaling traits were all based in terrestrial ecosystems and almost exclusively involved auditory signals. Only 29 studies examined the complete coevolutionary process between sensory and signaling traits and were dominated by fish visual communication. We discuss biophysical factors that may contribute to the visual and aquatic bias for Sensory Drive evidence, as well as biotic factors that may contribute to the lack of Sensory Drive processes in terrestrial acoustic signaling systems.

8.
Anim Cogn ; 21(1): 37-53, 2018 01.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29022119

RESUMO

The relationship between an individual's cognitive abilities and other behavioural attributes is complex, yet critical to understanding how individual differences in cognition arise. Here we use western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, to investigate the relationship between individual associative learning performance in numerical discrimination tests and independent measures of activity, exploration, anxiety and sociability. We found extensive and highly repeatable inter-individual variation in learning performance (r = 0.89; ICC = 0.89). Males and females exhibited similar learning performance, yet differed in sociability, activity and their relationship between learning and anxiety/exploration tendencies. Sex-specific multivariate behaviour scores successfully predicted variation in individual learning performance, whereas combined sex analyses did not. Female multivariate behaviour scores significantly predict learning performance across females (ρ = 0.80, p = 0.005) with high-performing female learners differentiated from female non-learners and low-performing learners by significant contributions of activity and sociability measures. Meanwhile, males of different learning performance levels (high-, low- and non-learners) were distinguished from each other by unique behavioural loadings of sociability, activity and anxiety/exploration scores, respectively. Our data suggest that despite convergence on learning performance, the sexes diverge in cognitive-behavioural relationships that are likely products of different sexual selection pressures.


Assuntos
Comportamento Animal , Cognição/fisiologia , Ciprinodontiformes/fisiologia , Conceitos Matemáticos , Caracteres Sexuais , Animais , Ansiedade , Aprendizagem por Discriminação/fisiologia , Feminino , Masculino , Personalidade
9.
Evolution ; 71(8): 2022-2036, 2017 Aug.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28590028

RESUMO

Signal evolution is thought to depend on both a signal's detectability or conspicuousness (signal design) as well as any extractable information it may convey to a potential receiver (signal content). While theoretical and empirical work in sexual selection has largely focused on signal content, there has been a steady accrual of evidence that signal design is also important for trait evolution. Despite this, relatively little attention has been paid to spatial variation in the conspicuousness of a given signal, especially over small spatial scales (relative to an organism's dispersal distance). Here, we show that visual signals of male threespine stickleback vary in conspicuousness, depending on a male's nest depth within a given lake. Deeper nesting males were typically more chromatically conspicuous than shallow nesting males. This trend is partly because all male stickleback are more conspicuous in deep optical environments. However, deep males are even more conspicuous than environmentally driven null expectations, while shallow males tend to be disproportionally cryptic. Experimental manipulation of male nesting depth induced plastic changes in nuptial color that replicated the natural gradients in conspicuousness. We discuss a number of potential mechanisms that could produce depth gradients in conspicuousness in male stickleback, including concomitant depth gradients in diet, predation pressure, male/female density, female preference, and opportunity for sexual selection.


Assuntos
Fenótipo , Comportamento Predatório , Smegmamorpha , Animais , Cor , Feminino , Lagos , Masculino , Comportamento de Nidação
10.
Gen Comp Endocrinol ; 246: 200-210, 2017 05 15.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28013033

RESUMO

The sensory system shapes an individual's perception of the world, including social interactions with conspecifics, habitat selection, predator detection, and foraging behavior. Sensory signaling can be modulated by steroid hormones, making these processes particularly vulnerable to environmental perturbations. Here we examine the influence of exogenous estrogen manipulation on the visual physiology of female western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) and sailfin mollies (Poecilia latipinna), two poeciliid species that inhabit freshwater environments across the southern United States. We conducted two experiments to address this aim. First, we exposed females from both species to a one-week dose response experiment with three treatments of waterborne ß-estradiol. Next, we conducted a one-week estrogen manipulation experiment with a waterborne estrogen (ß-Estradiol), a selective estrogen receptor modulator (tamoxifen), or combination estrogen and tamoxifen treatment. We used quantitative PCR (qPCR) to examine the expression of cone opsins (SWS1, SWS2b, SWS2a, Rh2, LWS), rhodopsin (Rh1), and steroid receptor genes (ARα, ARß, ERα, ERß2, GPER) in the eyes of individual females from each species. Results from the dose response experiment revealed estradiol-sensitivity in opsin (SWS2a, Rh2, Rh1) and androgen receptor (ARα, ARß) gene expression in mosquitofish females, but not sailfins. Meanwhile, our estrogen receptor modulation experiments revealed estrogen sensitivity in LWS opsin expression in both species, along with sensitivity in SWS1, SWS2b, and Rh2 opsins in mosquitofish. Comparisons of control females across experiments reveal species-level differences in opsin expression, with mosquitofish retinas dominated by short-wavelength sensitive opsins (SWS2b) and sailfins retinas dominated by medium- and long-wavelength sensitive opsins (Rh2 and LWS). Our research suggests that variation in exogenous levels of sex hormones within freshwater environments can modify the visual physiology of fishes in a species-specific manner.


Assuntos
Estrogênios/farmacologia , Regulação da Expressão Gênica/efeitos dos fármacos , Poecilia/metabolismo , Retina/metabolismo , Opsinas de Bastonetes/metabolismo , Animais , Feminino , Água Doce , Filogenia , Poecilia/crescimento & desenvolvimento , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase em Tempo Real , Retina/efeitos dos fármacos , Opsinas de Bastonetes/genética , Especificidade da Espécie
11.
Ecol Evol ; 7(24): 10503-10512, 2017 12.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29299233

RESUMO

Sexual signals are important for intraspecific communication and mate selection, but their evolution may be driven by both natural and sexual selection, and stochastic processes. Strawberry poison frogs (Oophaga pumilio) show strong color divergence among populations, but coloration also varies among individuals of the same population. The importance of coloration for female mate choice has been studied intensely, and sexual selection seems to affect color divergence in strawberry poison frogs. However, the effect of coloration on mating success under field conditions has received very little attention. Furthermore, few studies examined how phenotypic variation among individuals of the same color morph affects mate selection under natural conditions. We measured the spectral reflectance of courting and noncourting individuals and their background substrates in three geographically separated populations. In one population (Sarapiquí, Costa Rica), we found that naturally occurring courting pairs of males and females had significantly brighter dorsal coloration than individual males and females not engaged in courtship interactions. Our field observations suggest that, in the wild, females prefer brighter males while the reason for the higher courtship activity of brighter females remains unclear. Overall our results imply that brightness differences among individuals of the same color morph may actually affect reproductive success in some populations of strawberry poison frogs.

12.
Appl Opt ; 55(3): 626-37, 2016 Jan 20.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26835939

RESUMO

Polarized light fields contain more information than simple irradiance and such capabilities provide an advanced tool for underwater imaging. The concept of the beam spread function (BSF) for analysis of scalar underwater imaging was extended to a polarized BSF which considers polarization. The following studies of the polarized BSF in an underwater environment through Monte Carlo simulations and experiments led to a simplified underwater polarimetric imaging model. With the knowledge acquired in the analysis of the polarimetric imaging formation process of a manmade underwater target with known polarization properties, a method to extract the inherent optical properties of the water and to retrieve polarization characteristics of the target was explored. The proposed method for retrieval of underwater target polarization characteristics should contribute to future efforts to reveal the underlying mechanism of polarization camouflage possessed by marine animals and finally to generalize guidelines for creating engineered surfaces capable of similar polarization camouflage abilities in an underwater environment.


Assuntos
Meio Ambiente , Imageamento Tridimensional , Água , Simulação por Computador , Luz , Modelos Teóricos , Método de Monte Carlo , Nefelometria e Turbidimetria , Análise Numérica Assistida por Computador , Fotografação/instrumentação
13.
Science ; 350(6263): 965-9, 2015 11 20.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26586762

RESUMO

Despite appearing featureless to our eyes, the open ocean is a highly variable environment for polarization-sensitive viewers. Dynamic visual backgrounds coupled with predator encounters from all possible directions make this habitat one of the most challenging for camouflage. We tested open-ocean crypsis in nature by collecting more than 1500 videopolarimetry measurements from live fish from distinct habitats under a variety of viewing conditions. Open-ocean fish species exhibited camouflage that was superior to that of both nearshore fish and mirrorlike surfaces, with significantly higher crypsis at angles associated with predator detection and pursuit. Histological measurements revealed that specific arrangements of reflective guanine platelets in the fish's skin produce angle-dependent polarization modifications for polarocrypsis in the open ocean, suggesting a mechanism for natural selection to shape reflectance properties in this complex environment.


Assuntos
Mimetismo Biológico , Peixes/fisiologia , Seleção Genética , Animais , Plaquetas/citologia , Ecossistema , Oceanos e Mares , Comportamento Predatório , Pele/anatomia & histologia , Pele/irrigação sanguínea , Visão Ocular
14.
PLoS One ; 10(6): e0130571, 2015.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26110826

RESUMO

Natural selection is widely noted to drive divergence of phenotypic traits. Predation pressure can facilitate morphological divergence, for example the evolution of both cryptic and conspicuous coloration in animals. In this context Dendrobatid frogs have been used to study evolutionary forces inducing diversity in protective coloration. The polytypic strawberry poison frog (Oophaga pumilio) shows strong divergence in aposematic coloration among populations. To investigate whether predation pressure is important for color divergence among populations of O. pumilio we selected four mainland populations and two island populations from Costa Rica and Panama. Spectrometric measurements of body coloration were used to calculate color and brightness contrasts of frogs as an indicator of conspicuousness for the visual systems of several potential predators (avian, crab and snake) and a conspecific observer. Additionally, we conducted experiments using clay model frogs of different coloration to investigate whether the local coloration of frogs is better protected than non-local color morphs, and if predator communities vary among populations. Overall predation risk differed strongly among populations and interestingly was higher on the two island populations. Imprints on clay models indicated that birds are the main predators while attacks of other predators were rare. Furthermore, clay models of local coloration were equally likely to be attacked as those of non-local coloration. Overall conspicuousness (and brightness contrast) of local frogs was positively correlated with attack rates by birds across populations. Together with results from earlier studies we conclude that conspicuousness honestly indicates toxicity to avian predators. The different coloration patterns among populations of strawberry poison frogs in combination with behavior and toxicity might integrate into equally efficient anti-predator strategies depending on local predation and other ecological factors.


Assuntos
Anuros/genética , Evolução Biológica , Comportamento Predatório/fisiologia , Seleção Genética , Animais , Anuros/fisiologia , Costa Rica , Fenótipo , Venenos
15.
J R Soc Interface ; 12(104): 20141390, 2015 Mar 06.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-25673301

RESUMO

Predator evasion in the open ocean is difficult because there are no objects to hide behind. The silvery surface of fish plays an important role in open water camouflage. Various models have been proposed to account for the broadband reflectance by the fish skin that involve one-dimensional variations in the arrangement of guanine crystal reflectors, yet the three-dimensional organization of these guanine platelets have not been well characterized. Here, we report the three-dimensional organization and the optical properties of integumentary guanine platelets in a silvery marine fish, the lookdown (Selene vomer). Our structural analysis and computational modelling show that stacks of guanine platelets with random yaw angles in the fish skin produce broadband reflectance via colour mixing. Optical axes of the guanine platelets and the collagen layer are aligned closely and provide bulk birefringence properties that influence the polarization reflectance by the skin. These data demonstrate how the lookdown preserves or alters polarization states at different incident polarization angles. These optical properties resulted from the organization of these guanine platelets and the collagen layer may have implications for open ocean camouflage in varying light fields.


Assuntos
Peixes/fisiologia , Pele/metabolismo , Animais , Colágeno/química , Simulação por Computador , Cristalização , Ecossistema , Guanina/química , Luz , Microscopia , Microscopia Eletrônica de Varredura , Distribuição Normal , Oceanos e Mares , Óptica e Fotônica , Pigmentação , Comportamento Predatório , Luz Solar
16.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A ; 111(37): 13397-402, 2014 Sep 16.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-25197061

RESUMO

Polarization of light, and visual sensitivity to it, is pervasive across aquatic and terrestrial environments. Documentation of invertebrate use of polarized light is widespread from navigation and foraging to species recognition. However, studies demonstrating that polarization body patterning serves as a communication signal (e.g., with evidence of changes in receiver behavior) are rare among invertebrate taxa and conspicuously absent among vertebrates. Here, we investigate polarization-mediated communication by northern swordtails, Xiphophorus nigrensis, using a custom-built videopolarimeter to measure polarization signals and an experimental paradigm that manipulates polarization signals without modifying their brightness or color. We conducted mate choice trials in an experimental tank that illuminates a pair of males with light passed through a polarization filter and a diffusion filter. By alternating the order of these filters between males, we presented females with live males that differed in polarization reflectance by >200% but with intensity and color differences below detection thresholds (∼5%). Combining videopolarimetry and polarization-manipulated mate choice trials, we found sexually dimorphic polarized reflectance and polarization-dependent female mate choice behavior with no polarization-dependent courtship behavior by males. Male swordtails exhibit greater within-body and body-to-background polarization contrast than females, and females preferentially associate with high-polarization-reflecting males. We also found limited support that males increase polarization contrast in social conditions over asocial conditions. Polarization cues in mate choice contexts may provide aquatic vertebrates with enhanced detection of specific display features (e.g., movements, angular information), as well as a signaling mechanism that may enhance detection by intended viewers while minimizing detection by others.


Assuntos
Comunicação Animal , Ciprinodontiformes/fisiologia , Luz , Preferência de Acasalamento Animal , Animais , Sensibilidades de Contraste , Feminino , Masculino , Caracteres Sexuais , Comportamento Social
17.
Proc Biol Sci ; 281(1785): 20140047, 2014 Jun 22.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-24807251

RESUMO

Social behaviours such as mate choice require context-specific responses, often with evolutionary consequences. Increasing evidence indicates that the behavioural plasticity associated with mate choice involves learning. For example, poeciliids show age-dependent changes in female preference functions and express synaptic-plasticity-associated molecular markers during mate choice. Here, we test whether social cognition is necessary for female preference behaviour by blocking the central player in synaptic plasticity, NMDAR (N-methyl d-aspartate receptor), in a poeciliid fish, Xiphophorus nigrensis. After subchronic exposure to NMDAR antagonist MK-801, female preference behaviours towards males were dramatically reduced. Overall activity levels were unaffected, but there was a directional shift from 'social' behaviours towards neutral activity. Multivariate gene expression patterns significantly discriminated between females with normal versus disrupted plasticity processes and correlated with preference behaviours-not general activity. Furthermore, molecular patterns support a distinction between 'preference' (e.g. neuroserpin, neuroligin-3, NMDAR) and 'sociality' (isotocin and vasotocin) gene clusters, highlighting a possible conservation between NMDAR disruption and nonapeptides in modulating behaviour. Our results suggest that mate preference may involve greater social memory processing than overall sociality, and that poeciliid preference functions integrate synaptic-plasticity-oriented 'preference' pathways with overall sociality to invoke dynamic, context-specific responses towards favoured males and away from unfavoured males.


Assuntos
Ciprinodontiformes/fisiologia , Regulação da Expressão Gênica , Preferência de Acasalamento Animal , Plasticidade Neuronal , Animais , Cognição , Ciprinodontiformes/genética , Maleato de Dizocilpina/farmacologia , Antagonistas de Aminoácidos Excitatórios/farmacologia , Feminino , Proteínas de Peixes/antagonistas & inibidores , Receptores de N-Metil-D-Aspartato/antagonistas & inibidores
18.
Brain Behav Evol ; 83(3): 231-43, 2014.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-24854097

RESUMO

Choosing mates is a commonly shared behavior across many organisms, with important fitness consequences. Variations in female preferences can be due in part to differences in neural and cellular activity during mate selection. Initial studies have begun to identify putative brain regions involved in mate preference, yet the understanding of the neural processes regulating these behaviors is still nascent. In this study, we characterized the expression of a gene involved in synaptogenesis and plasticity (neuroligin-3) and one that codes for the rate-limiting enzyme in dopamine biosynthesis (tyrosine hydroxylase; TH1) in the female Xiphophorus nigrensis (northern swordtail) brain as related to mate preference behavior. We exposed females to a range of different mate choice contexts including two large courting males (LL), two small coercive males (SS), and a context that paired a large courting male with a small coercive male (LS). Neuroligin-3 expression in a mate preference context (LS) showed significant correlations with female preference in two telencephalic areas (Dm and Dl), a hypothalamic nucleus (HV), and two regions associated with sexual and social behavior (POA and Vv). We did not observe any context- or behavior-specific changes in tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA expression concomitant with female preference in any of the brain regions examined. Analysis of TH and neuroligin-3 expression across different brain regions showed that expression patterns varied with the male social environment only for neuroligin-3, where the density of correlated expression between brain regions was positively associated with mate choice contexts that involved a greater number of courting male phenotypes (LS and LL). This study identified regions showing presumed high levels of synaptic plasticity using neuroligin-3, implicating and supporting their roles in female mate preference, but we did not detect any relationship between tyrosine hydroxylase and mate preference with 30 min of stimulus presentation in X. nigrensis. These data suggest that information about potential mates is processed in select forebrain regions and the entire brain shows different degrees of correlated expression depending on the mate preference context.


Assuntos
Encéfalo/fisiologia , Moléculas de Adesão Celular Neuronais/metabolismo , Ciprinodontiformes/fisiologia , Proteínas de Peixes/metabolismo , Preferência de Acasalamento Animal/fisiologia , Proteínas de Membrana/metabolismo , Proteínas do Tecido Nervoso/metabolismo , Tirosina 3-Mono-Oxigenase/metabolismo , Animais , Tamanho Corporal , Comportamento de Escolha/fisiologia , Estradiol/metabolismo , Feminino , Expressão Gênica , Hipotálamo/fisiologia , Hibridização In Situ , Telencéfalo/fisiologia
19.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A ; 110(24): 9764-9, 2013 Jun 11.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-23716701

RESUMO

With no object to hide behind in 3D space, the open ocean represents a challenging environment for camouflage. Conventional strategies for reflective crypsis (e.g., standard mirror) are effective against axially symmetric radiance fields associated with high solar altitudes, yet ineffective against asymmetric polarized radiance fields associated with low solar inclinations. Here we identify a biological model for polaro-crypsis. We measured the surface-reflectance Mueller matrix of live open ocean fish (lookdown, Selene vomer) and seagrass-dwelling fish (pinfish, Lagodon rhomboides) using polarization-imaging and modeling polarization camouflage for the open ocean. Lookdowns occupy the minimization basin of our polarization-contrast space, while pinfish and standard mirror measurements exhibit higher contrast values than optimal. The lookdown reflective strategy achieves significant gains in polaro-crypsis (up to 80%) in comparison with nonpolarization sensitive strategies, such as a vertical mirror. Lookdowns achieve polaro-crypsis across solar altitudes by varying reflective properties (described by 16 Mueller matrix elements m(ij)) with incident illumination. Lookdowns preserve reflected polarization aligned with principle axes (dorsal-ventral and anterior-posterior, m(22) = 0.64), while randomizing incident polarization 45° from principle axes (m(33) = -0.05). These reflectance properties allow lookdowns to reflect the uniform degree and angle of polarization associated with high-noon conditions due to alignment of the principle axes and the sun, and reflect a more complex polarization pattern at asymmetrical light fields associated with lower solar elevations. Our results suggest that polaro-cryptic strategies vary by habitat, and require context-specific depolarization and angle alteration for effective concealment in the complex open ocean environment.


Assuntos
Ecossistema , Iluminação/métodos , Modelos Biológicos , Perciformes/fisiologia , Animais , Simulação por Computador , Iluminação/instrumentação , Oceanos e Mares , Luz Solar
20.
Am Nat ; 181(5): E116-24, 2013 May.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-23594556

RESUMO

Though theory predicts consistency of warning signals in aposematic species to facilitate predator learning, variation in these signals often occurs in nature. The strawberry poison frog Dendrobates pumilio is an exceptionally polytypic (populations are phenotypically distinct) aposematic frog exhibiting variation in warning color and brightness. In the Solarte population, males and females both respond differentially to male brightness variation. Here, we demonstrate through spectrophotometry and visual modeling that aposematic brightness variation within this population is likely visible to two putative predators (crabs, snakes) and conspecifics but not to the presumed major predator (birds). This study thus suggests that signal brightness within D. pumilio populations can be shaped by sexual selection, with limited opportunity for natural selection to influence this trait due to predator sensory constraints. Because signal brightness changes can ultimately lead to changes in hue, our findings at the within-population level can provide insights into understanding this polytypism at across-population scales.


Assuntos
Anuros/fisiologia , Preferência de Acasalamento Animal , Seleção Genética , Comunicação Animal , Animais , Anuros/genética , Evolução Biológica , Cor , Sinais (Psicologia) , Feminino , Masculino , Fenótipo , Comportamento Predatório , Caracteres Sexuais
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