Distress call-induced gene expression in the brain of the Indian short-nosed fruit bat, Cynopterus sphinx.
Individuals in distress emit audible vocalizations to either warn or inform conspecifics. The Indian short-nosed fruit bat, Cynopterus sphinx, emits distress calls soon after becoming entangled in mist nets, which appear to attract conspecifics. Phase I of these distress calls is longer and louder, and includes a secondary peak, compared to phase II. Activity-dependent expression of egr-1 was examined in free-ranging C. sphinx following the emissions and responses to a distress call. We found that the level of expression of egr-1 was higher in bats that emitted a distress call, in adults that responded, and in pups than in silent bats. Up-regulated cDNA was amplified to identify the target gene (TOE1) of the protein Egr-1. The observed expression pattern Toe1 was similar to that of egr-1. These findings suggest that the neuronal activity related to recognition of a distress call and an auditory feedback mechanism induces the expression of Egr-1. Co-expression of egr-1 with Toe1 may play a role in initial triggering of the genetic mechanism that could be involved in the consolidation or stabilization of distress call memories.
Ganesh
Ambigapathy
A
Department of Animal Science, School of Life Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, 620024, India.
Raghuram
Hanumanthan
H
Nathan
Parthasarathy T
PT
Marimuthu
Ganapathy
G
Rajan
Koilmani Emmanuvel
KE
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000502:physiology*; D051766:Early Growth Response Protein 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004455:Echolocation / Q000502:physiology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D056228:Feedback, Sensory / Q000502:physiology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011571:Psychoacoustics
D051766:Early Growth Response Protein 1; D009687:Nuclear Proteins