The evolution of a series of behavioral traits is associated with autism-risk genes in cavefish.

ABSTRACT:

Background

An essential question in evolutionary biology is whether shifts in a set of polygenic behaviors share a genetic basis across species. Such a behavioral shift is seen in the cave-dwelling Mexican tetra, Astyanax mexicanus. Relative to surface-dwelling conspecifics, cavefish do not school (asocial), are hyperactive and sleepless, adhere to a particular vibration stimulus (imbalanced attention), behave repetitively, and show elevated stress hormone levels. Interestingly, these traits largely overlap with the core symptoms of human autism spectrum disorder (ASD), raising the possibility that these behavioral traits are underpinned by a similar set of genes (i.e. a repeatedly used suite of genes).

Result

Here, we explored whether modification of ASD-risk genes underlie

SUBMITTER: Yoshizawa M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6004695 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature