Project description:Female European robins routinely sing during the winter season, a time when they defend feeding territories and also show elevated circulating testosterone levels. We used wild female European robins captured during fall to examine the effects of testosterone administration on the transcriptome of the song control nucleus HVC (proper name).
Project description:Female European robins routinely sing during the winter season, a time when they defend feeding territories and also show elevated circulating testosterone levels. We used wild female European robins captured during fall to examine the effects of testosterone administration on the transcriptome of the song control nucleus HVC (proper name). Robins were caught during fall, housed at short day cycles in sound-proofed recoding boxes and songs were recorded continously. A testosterone-teated robin was sacrificed one day after detection of the first high amplitude notes with a frequency above 15 kHz. Therefore, duration of testosterone treatment varied between samples. An individual of the control group was sacrificed on the same day to ensure a time-matched sampling of individuals from both groups. The differential gene expression in the HVC of 5 control and 6 testosterone birds was analyzed using the group-wise exhaustive analysis with False Discovery Rate set to zero and 10-significant probe minimum coverage. ChipInspector carries out significance analysis on the single probe level. Normalized probe set level data not provided for individual Sample records. Processed data is available on Series record.
Project description:In this data set, we compared the expression data of song nuclei HVC dissected from adult female canaries (S. canaria) implanted with 7-mm SilasticTM tubes filled with testosterone for 6 periods (1h, 3h, 8h, 3d, 7d, and 14d) with control birds (implanted with empty tube) to identify testosterone effects on gene expression.
Project description:In this data set, we compared the expression data of song nuclei HVC, visual cortex entopallium, and the molecular layer of the cerebellum dissected from females and males of 3 songbird species (S. canaria, U. cyanocephalus, P. bicolor) to identify sex-specific stimulated gene expression. Testosterone-treated male and female canaries were also included in order to study whether testosterone effect on transcriptomes is sex-specific. Finally, testosterone-treated female canaries were compared with a rare group of spontaneously singing female canaries to study whether testosterone stimulation would be different from natural stimulation.
Project description:Photoperiod and hormonal cues drive dramatic seasonal changes in structure and function of the avian song control system. Little is known, however, about the patterns of gene expression associated with seasonal changes. Here we address this issue by exposing GambelM-bM-^@M-^Ys white-crowned sparrows to season-appropriate cues and extracting RNA from the telencephalic song control nuclei HVC and RA across multiple time points that capture different stages of growth and regression. We chose HVC and RA because while both nuclei change in volume across seasons, the cellular mechanisms underlying these changes differ. We thus hypothesized that different genes would be expressed between HVC and RA. We tested this by using the extracted RNA to perform a cDNA microarray hybridization developed by the SoNG initiative. We then validated these results using qRT-PCR. Supporting our hypothesis, only 59 of the 363 genes of interest were found to vary by more than |1.5| fold in expression in both nuclei, while 132 gene expression changes were HVC specific and 172 genes were RA specific. We then assigned many of these genes to functional categories relevant to the different mechanisms underlying seasonal change in HVC and RA, including neurogenesis, apoptosis, cell growth, dendrite arborization and axonal growth, angiogenesis, endocrinology, growth factors, and electrophysiology. This revealed categorical differences in the kinds of genes regulated in HVC and RA. These results show that different molecular programs underlie seasonal changes in HVC and RA, and that gene expression is time specific across different reproductive conditions. Our results provide insights into the complex molecular pathways that underlie adult neural plasticity. Experimental groups: long-term Short Day (SD); Long Day (LD) with Testosterone (T) for 3, 7, and 21 days (3LD+T, 7LD+T, 21LD+T respectively); SD and removal of T at 1 and 2 days (1SD-T, 2SD-T); two tissues (HVC, RA) collected separately from each individual animal; one experimental sample and one universal SoNG reference sample per array; dye balanced within groups. Six biological replicates per group, five biological replicates in 3LD+T.HVC group.