Genetic differentiation of hypothalamus parentally biased transcripts in populations of the house mouse implicate the Prader-Willi syndrome imprinted region as a possible source of behavioral divergence.

ABSTRACT: Parentally biased expression of transcripts (genomic imprinting) in adult tissues, including the brain, can influence and possibly drive the evolution of behavioral traits. We have previously found that paternally determined cues are involved in population-specific mate choice decisions between two populations of the Western house mouse (Mus musculus domesticus). Here, we ask whether this could be mediated by genomically imprinted transcripts that are subject to fast differentiation between these populations. We focus on three organs that are of special relevance for mate choice and behavior: The vomeronasal organ (VNO), the hypothalamus, and the liver. To first identify candidate transcripts at a genome-wide scale, we used reciprocal crosses between M. m. domesticus and M. m. musculus inb

SUBMITTER: Lorenc A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4245819 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature