An inherited genetic program for acquisition of species-specific vocal pattern in songbird
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1
Hokkaido university, Grad. school of Life Science, Japan
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2
Hokkaido university, Faculty of Science, Department of Biological Sciences, Japan
A complex motor behavior develops under the influence of environmental factors and inherited genetic information. Birdsong is a complex learned vocalization that is developed by coordination of motor output with auditory feedback. This sensorimotor coordination to match memorized tutor song is one of critical processes for vocal learning. However, songs of socially isolated birds that did not hear tutor songs possess species-specific features despite abnormality. Even songs of bird deprived auditory feedback prior to song learning retain species-specificity. It is not fully understood to what extent sensory input modulates a species-specific complex behavior and its neural development in sensorimotor learning. To elucidate how auditory input influences song acquisition, we thoroughly analyzed development of vocal pattern, song stabilization timing and dynamics of gene expression in zebra finch, comparing hearing-intact birds and deafened birds. We found that even without sensorimotor coordination through auditory feedback, most deafened birds finally stabilized a vocal pattern taking twice longer time compared with hearing-intact birds. Their stabilized vocal pattern had individual differences maintaining zebra song feature, although acoustic structure of syllables was relatively disrupted. These results indicate that vocal motor system in songbird has the intrinsic trait to stabilize species-specific songs without auditory feedback. Next, to elucidate how many genes in neural circuit for vocal production are involved in song development and influenced by auditory deprivation, we used DNA microarrays to identify genes that were differentially regulated during song development. Here, we focused on two nuclei in vocal areas, HVC and robust nucleus of the archopallium (RA), because these are known as parts of motor pathway for regulation of syllable sequences and syllable structure. As the result, 3524spots in HVC and 1479spots in RA, 3-8% of genes on the microarray were differentially regulated during the vocal development of the hearing-intact birds. By contrast, deprivation of auditory input eliminated significant changes of most genes that were differentially regulated in hearing-intact birds. However, these genes kept a trend to persist expression in similar way to the hearing-intact birds. These data suggest that a genetic program driven without auditory feedback is a part of fundamental frameworks for gene regulation for vocal development. However, auditory input contributes to finely regulate level and timing of the gene expressions that are crucial for normal song acquisition.
References
Konishi, M. (1964) Condor, Marler, P. (1970) J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol., Marler, P. & Waser, M.S. (1977) J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol., Price, P.H. (1979) J.Comp. Physiol. Psychol., Guttinger, H.R. (1981) Z. Tierpsychol., Marler, P. & Sherman, V. (1983) J. Neurosci.
Keywords:
auditory,
Microarray,
songbird,
species-specificity,
vocal learning
Conference:
Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology, College Park. Maryland USA, United States, 5 Aug - 10 Aug, 2012.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation (see alternatives below as well)
Topic:
Genes and Behavior
Citation:
Mori
C and
Wada
K
(2012). An inherited genetic program for acquisition of species-specific vocal pattern in songbird.
Conference Abstract:
Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnbeh.2012.27.00124
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Received:
26 Apr 2012;
Published Online:
07 Jul 2012.
*
Correspondence:
Miss. Chihiro Mori, Hokkaido university, Grad. school of Life Science, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan, c_mori@mail.sci.hokudai.ac.jp
Dr. Kazuhiro Wada, Hokkaido university, Grad. school of Life Science, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan, wada@sci.hokudai.ac.jp