Genetic architecture of tameness in a rat model of animal domestication.
A common feature of domestic animals is tameness-i.e., they tolerate and are unafraid of human presence and handling. To gain insight into the genetic basis of tameness and aggression, we studied an intercross between two lines of rats (Rattus norvegicus) selected over >60 generations for increased tameness and increased aggression against humans, respectively. We measured 45 traits, including tameness and aggression, anxiety-related traits, organ weights, and levels of serum components in >700 rats from an intercross population. Using 201 genetic markers, we identified two significant quantitative trait loci (QTL) for tameness. These loci overlap with QTL for adrenal gland weight and for anxiety-related traits and are part of a five-locus epistatic network influencing tameness. An additional QTL influences the occurrence of white coat spots, but shows no significant effect on tameness. The loci described here are important starting points for finding the genes that cause tameness in these rats and potentially in domestic animals in general.
Department of Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, 75123 Uppsala, Sweden. falbert@eva.mpg.de
Frank W
FW
Albert
Orjan
O
Carlborg
Irina
I
Plyusnina
Francois
F
Besnier
Daniela
D
Hedwig
Susann
S
Lautenschläger
Doreen
D
Lorenz
Jenny
J
McIntosh
Christof
C
Neumann
Henning
H
Richter
Claudia
C
Zeising
Rimma
R
Kozhemyakina
Olesya
O
Shchepina
Jürgen
J
Kratzsch
Lyudmila
L
Trut
Daniel
D
Teupser
Joachim
J
Thiery
Torsten
T
Schöneberg
Leif
L
Andersson
Svante
S
Pääbo
D000374:Aggression; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D005260:Female; D005819:Genetic Markers / Q000235:genetics; D023281:Genomics; D006197:Hair; D006801:Humans; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic; D008297:Male; D023421:Models, Animal; D010641:Phenotype; D010858:Pigmentation / Q000235:genetics; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci; D051381:Rats; D013045:Species Specificity
D005819:Genetic Markers