PUBLICATION
Expression change in Angiopoietin-1 underlies change in relative brain size in fish
- Authors
- Chen, Y.C., Harrison, P.W., Kotrschal, A., Kolm, N., Mank, J.E., Panula, P.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-150626-9
- Date
- 2015
- Source
- Proceedings. Biological sciences 282(1810): (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Panula, Pertti
- Keywords
- artificial selection, brain size, gene expression, knock down, neuro-transcriptome
- MeSH Terms
-
- Male
- Gene Expression Regulation*
- Brain/anatomy & histology*
- Animals
- Zebrafish Proteins/genetics*
- Zebrafish Proteins/metabolism
- Female
- Angiopoietins/genetics*
- Angiopoietins/metabolism
- Gene Knockdown Techniques
- Poecilia/anatomy & histology
- Poecilia/genetics*
- Poecilia/metabolism
- Zebrafish/anatomy & histology
- Zebrafish/genetics*
- Zebrafish/metabolism
- PubMed
- 26108626 Full text @ Proc. Biol. Sci.
Citation
Chen, Y.C., Harrison, P.W., Kotrschal, A., Kolm, N., Mank, J.E., Panula, P. (2015) Expression change in Angiopoietin-1 underlies change in relative brain size in fish. Proceedings. Biological sciences. 282(1810).
Abstract
Brain size varies substantially across the animal kingdom and is often associated with cognitive ability; however, the genetic architecture underpinning natural variation in these key traits is virtually unknown. In order to identify the genetic architecture and loci underlying variation in brain size, we analysed both coding sequence and expression for all the loci expressed in the telencephalon in replicate populations of guppies (Poecilia reticulata) artificially selected for large and small relative brain size. A single gene, Angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1), a regulator of angiogenesis and suspected driver of neural development, was differentially expressed between large- and small-brain populations. Zebra fish (Danio rerio) morphants showed that mild knock down of Ang-1 produces a small-brained phenotype that could be rescued with Ang-1 mRNA. Translation inhibition of Ang-1 resulted in smaller brains in larvae and increased expression of Notch-1, which regulates differentiation of neural stem cells. In situ analysis of newborn large- and small-brained guppies revealed matching expression patterns of Ang-1 and Notch-1 to those observed in zebrafish larvae. Taken together, our results suggest that the genetic architecture affecting brain size in our population may be surprisingly simple, and Ang-1 may be a potentially important locus in the evolution of vertebrate brain size and cognitive ability.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping