Transcriptional regulatory divergence underpinning species-specific learned vocalization in songbirds

by Hongdi Wang, Azusa Sawai, Noriyuki Toji, Rintaro Sugioka, Yukino Shibata, Yuika Suzuki, Yu Ji, Shin Hayase, Satoru Akama, Jun Sese, Kazuhiro Wada Learning of most motor skills is constrained in a species-specific manner. However, the proximate mechanisms underlying species-specific learned behaviors remain poorly understood. Songbirds acquire species-specific songs through learning, which is hypothesized to depend on species-specific patter ns of gene expression in functionally specialized brain regions for vocal learning and production, called song nuclei. Here, we leveraged two closely related songbird species, zebra finch, owl finch, and their interspecific first-generation (F1) hybrids, to relate transcriptional regulatory divergence between species with the production of species-specific songs. We quantified genome-wide gene expression in both species and compared this with allele-specific expression in F1 hybrids to identify genes whose expression in song nuclei is regulated by species divergence in eithercis- ortrans-regulation. We found that divergence in transcriptional regulation altered the expression of approximately 10% of total transcribed genes and was linked to differential gene expression between the two species. Furthermore,trans-regulatory changes were more prevalent thancis-regulatory and were associated with synaptic formation and transmission in song nucleus RA, the avian analog of the mammalian laryngeal motor cortex. We identified brain-derived neu...
Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: research