Research for the neural basis of behavioral phenotypic variation

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K06754
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 44050:Animal physiological chemistry, physiology and behavioral biology-related
• Research Institution: The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (2020-2022); Hokkaido University (2019)
• Principal Investigator: Watanabe Takayuki 総合研究大学院大学, 統合進化科学研究センター, 助教 (70547851)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 性的二型 / doublesex 遺伝子 / 表現型可塑性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we used crickets to clarify the neural mechanism of behavioral phenotypic variation in response to density effects. We conducted neural RNA-seq analysis to identify endocrine factors whose expression changes in response to phenotypic plasticity, but the number of genes whose expression changes due to density effects was smaller than expected, and the hypothesis could not be tested. On the other hand, since male aggressive behavior includes male-specific behavioral elements, we analyzed the cricket doublesex gene, the neural sex-determination factor in the cricket, and found a marked increase in the rate of molecular evolution of the doublesex gene in crickets.

Free Research Field

神経行動学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

昆虫の神経回路の性決定を担う doublesex 遺伝子の進化について、コオロギ類で極めてイレギュラーな進化が起きていることが明らかとなった。性決定因子の進化に関する知見としては、他に類を見ない発見であり、今後さらなる研究の推進が必要と考えられる。（現在、成果報告のための追加実験を進めており、詳細についてはここで記載することを控えたい）