Using the canary genome to decipher the evolution of hormone-sensitive gene regulation in seasonal singing birds.

ABSTRACT:

Background

While the song of all songbirds is controlled by the same neural circuit, the hormone dependence of singing behavior varies greatly between species. For this reason, songbirds are ideal organisms to study ultimate and proximate mechanisms of hormone-dependent behavior and neuronal plasticity.

Results

We present the high quality assembly and annotation of a female 1.2-Gbp canary genome. Whole genome alignments between the canary and 13 genomes throughout the bird taxa show a much-conserved synteny, whereas at the single-base resolution there are considerable species differences. These differences impact small sequence motifs like transcription factor binding sites such as estrogen response elements and androgen response elements. To relate these species-specific re

SUBMITTER: Frankl-Vilches C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4373106 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature