Author ORCID Identifier
Anna V. Kukekova: 0000-0001-7027-3715
Halie M. Rando: 0000-0001-7688-1770
Yury Herbeck: 0000-0001-5158-4817
Klaus Peter Koepfli: 0000-0001-7281-0676
Rimma G. Gulevich: 0000-0002-4666-1125
Jessica P. Hekman: 0000-0002-7296-8307
Polina L. Perelman: 0000-0002-0982-5100
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-1-2018
Publication Title
Nature Ecology and Evolution
Abstract
Strains of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) with markedly different behavioural phenotypes have been developed in the famous long-term selective breeding programme known as the Russian farm-fox experiment. Here we sequenced and assembled the red fox genome and re-sequenced a subset of foxes from the tame, aggressive and conventional farm-bred populations to identify genomic regions associated with the response to selection for behaviour. Analysis of the re-sequenced genomes identified 103 regions with either significantly decreased heterozygosity in one of the three populations or increased divergence between the populations. A strong positional candidate gene for tame behaviour was highlighted: SorCS1, which encodes the main trafficking protein for AMPA glutamate receptors and neurexins and suggests a role for synaptic plasticity in fox domestication. Other regions identified as likely to have been under selection in foxes include genes implicated in human neurological disorders, mouse behaviour and dog domestication. The fox represents a powerful model for the genetic analysis of affiliative and aggressive behaviours that can benefit genetic studies of behaviour in dogs and other mammals, including humans.
Volume
2
Issue
9
First Page
1479
Last Page
1491
DOI
10.1038/s41559-018-0611-6
Recommended Citation
Kukekova, Anna V.; Johnson, Jennifer L.; Xiang, Xueyan; Feng, Shaohong; Liu, Shiping; Rando, Halie M.; Kharlamova, Anastasiya V.; Herbeck, Yury; Serdyukova, Natalya A.; Xiong, Zijun; Beklemischeva, Violetta; Koepfli, Klaus Peter; Gulevich, Rimma G.; Vladimirova, Anastasiya V.; Hekman, Jessica P.; Perelman, Polina L.; Graphodatsky, Aleksander S.; O’Brien, Stephen J.; Wang, Xu; Clark, Andrew G.; Acland, Gregory M.; Trut, Lyudmila N.; and Zhang, Guojie, "Red Fox Genome Assembly Identifies Genomic Regions Associated With Tame and Aggressive Behaviours" (2018). Computer Science: Faculty Publications, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/csc_facpubs/419
Comments
Peer reviewed accepted manuscript.
Author Correction to this article was published on 13 August 2018: Red fox genome assembly identifies genomic regions associated with tame and aggressive behaviours