Molecular variation in AVP and AVPR1a in New World monkeys (Primates, Platyrrhini): evolution and implications for social monogamy.

ABSTRACT: The neurohypophysial hormone arginine vasopressin (AVP) plays important roles in fluid regulation and vascular resistance. Differences in AVP receptor expression, particularly mediated through variation in the noncoding promoter region of the primary receptor for AVP (AVPR1a), may play a role in social phenotypes, particularly social monogamy, in rodents and humans. Among primates, social monogamy is rare, but is common among New World monkeys (NWM). AVP is a nonapeptide and generally conserved among eutherian mammals, although a recent paper demonstrated that some NWM species possess a novel form of the related neuropeptide hormone, oxytocin. We therefore characterized variation in the AVP and AVPR1a genes in 22 species representing every genus in the three major platyrrhine families (Ceb

SUBMITTER: Ren D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4216101 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature