Female Mate Choice Influences on Monogamous Pair Bond Formation in Prairie Voles

Abstract

The prairie vole is an established model for social behavior, most notably, the monogamous pair bond formed between a mated pair. The formation of this bond hinges upon estrogen surges in the female shortly after being introduced to a potential mate. Our lab has correlated earlier estrogen surges with earlier achievement of pregnancy, which we have also found to be a determining factor in the formation of a monogamous pair bond for male prairie voles. Currently, our lab is examining how female mate choice influences the formation of a monogamous pair bond via both behavioral and endocrine measures.This study has three objectives: 1) To establish whether endocrine measures provide supporting data for behavioral measures of pair bond formation; 2) To examine whether female prairie voles allowed to pair with a mate of their choice will show an earlier estrogen surge and a shorter latency pregnancy; and 3) To determine if pairing and pregnancy is a greater stressor for animals not paired with their mate of choice.Sexually naïve female prairie voles were allowed to choose between two males and subsequently paired either with the male of their choice or the male they did not choose. An additional group of females was paired randomly with a male outside of the choice paradigm. Fecal samples were collected prior to and immediately after mate choice, and at select time points throughout the next 30 days or until the birth of a litter. Fecal samples were analyzed via ELISA for 17b‐estradiol and corticosterone content to examine sex hormone changes associated with pairing and pregnancy, as well as stress levels throughout pairing and pregnancy. These measures will be combined with partner preference testing on either the female or male subject to establish whether female mate choice can affect endocrine changes that may impact monogamous pair bond formation.Regardless of sex, animals in pairs that include the non‐chosen male tend to display social affiliation patterns that differ from those pairs that include the chosen male or a randomly assigned male. Despite differences in affiliative behavior, latency to birth in all groups was similar. These data suggest that female mate choice may influence pair bond formation, despite the lack of differences in latency to pregnancy.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.