title: Molecular mechanisms and the conflict between courtship and aggression in three-spined sticklebacks.
abstract: In nature, animals often face conflicting demands. For example, breeding males must attract a mate but at the same time be ready to defend against rivals. The molecular mechanisms by which the brain resolves behavioural trade-offs are largely unknown. In this study, we compared the brain transcriptional responses of territorial male three-spined sticklebacks to a mating opportunity with a female and to a territorial challenge by a rival male. We focused on the diencephalon and the cerebellum, two regions of the brain implicated in courtship and aggression. There was a set of genes that were differentially expressed in response to both a courtship opportunity and a territorial challenge. Closer inspection of the direction of regulation revealed that genes that were downregulated in response to a courtship opportunity were upregulated in response to a territorial challenge and vice versa. Our study reveals some of the potential molecular mechanisms underlying behavioural trade-offs between sex and aggression, along with a possible solution to the conflict via social context-dependent gene regulation.
authors.affiliation: School of Integrative Biology, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 505 S. Goodwin Ave., 433 Morrill Hall, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Yibayiri O
authors.initials: YO
authors.lastname: Sanogo
authors.affiliation: School of Integrative Biology, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 505 S. Goodwin Ave., 433 Morrill Hall, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Alison M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Bell
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression; D000818:Animals; D003380:Courtship; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D012098:Reproduction; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D023701:Smegmamorpha / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D013731:Territoriality
keywords: Gasterosteus aculeatus; behavioural syndrome; gene expression; limited plasticity; microarray; sociogenomics; territoriality