INVESTIGADORES
FERRETTI Valentina
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Personalities in brood parasites of the genus Molothrus: variation in behavioral syndromes not explained by genetic variation in DRD4 fragment
Autor/es:
SCARDAMAGLIA, ROMINA; MEMELSDORFF, NICOLAS; VAZQUEZ, MACARENA; CRAIG, MARIA ISABEL; VAGNOZZI, ARIEL E.; FERRETTI, VALENTINA
Reunión:
Congreso; North American Ornithological Congress; 2020
Resumen:
Shiny cowbirds (Molothrus bonariensis) and Screamingcowbirds (M. rufoaxillaris) are brood parasites that differ in their degreeof specialization in the use of hosts, the former being a generalist and thelatter a specialist. Given this marked difference in parasitic behavior, weexpect them to differ in some aspects of their personality, and for this differenceto have a genetic basis. Here we look at: 1. whether there are geneticpolymorphisms associated with a region of the DRD4 gene, a gene associated todifferences in behavior; 2. whether these polymorphisms are related to differentpersonality traits; and, 3. whether these differences are in turn related tosex and species. We captured individuals of both species in Buenos AiresProvince, Argentina. We took a blood sample from each individual for genetic analysesand tested them to measure different personality axes. We found that Shinycowbird females showed less exploratory behavior and were less neophobic than Screamingcowbird females. In addition, females of both species exhibited greaterexploratory behavior than males, and males were less fearful of novelsituations in both species; but we found no polymorphisms in the targetedregion of the DRD4 gene for the samples analyzed. However, when we compared theamplified sequence to that of other non-parasitic species, we detected adeletion of three base pairs and two substitutions which generate differencesin the aminoacidic sequence. Further work should explore the functionalimplications of these differences, and if they are associated to adaptations tobrood parasitic behavior. <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face{font-family:"Cambria Math";panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:roman;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face{font-family:Calibri;panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:swiss;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073697537 9 0 511 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal{mso-style-unhide:no;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}.MsoChpDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;mso-default-props:yes;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}size:8.5in 11.0in;margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;mso-header-margin:.5in;mso-footer-margin:.5in;mso-paper-source:0;}div.WordSection1{page:WordSection1;}