Abstract
(1) Background: The objective of this study was to uncover genomic causes of parental care. Since birds do not lactate and, therefore, do not show the gene expressional changes required for lactation, we investigate gene expression associated with parenting in caring and non-caring females in an avian species, the small passerine bird zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). Here, we compare expression patterns in the hypothalamic–septal region since, previously, we showed that this area is activated in parenting females. (2) Methods: Transcriptome sequencing was first applied in a dissected part of the zebra finch brain related to taking care of the nestlings as compared to a control group of social pairs without nestlings. (3) Results: We found genes differentially expressed between caring and non-caring females. When introducing a log2fold change threshold of 1.5, 13 annotated genes were significantly upregulated in breeding pairs, while 39 annotated genes were downregulated. Significant enrichments of dopamine and acetylcholine biosynthetic processes were identified among upregulated pathways, while pro-opiomelanocortin and thyroid hormone pathways were downregulated, suggesting the importance of these systems in parental care. Network analysis further suggested neuro-immunological changes in mothers. (4) Conclusions: The results confirm the roles of several hypothesized major pathways in parental care, whereas novel pathways are also proposed.
Highlights
Parental behaviour is adaptive as it increases the survival chance of the offspring, thereby contributing to fitness [1,2]
Several brain regions known to play a role in the control of maternal behaviours have been investigated for gene expressional changes related to parental care in recent years in rodents
Some individual genes have been addressed in birds as far as caring behaviour [95,96,97], we often had to refer to mammalian functions of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs)
Summary
Parental behaviour is adaptive as it increases the survival chance of the offspring, thereby contributing to fitness [1,2]. Several brain regions known to play a role in the control of maternal behaviours have been investigated for gene expressional changes related to parental care in recent years in rodents. Using the microarray technique, altered gene expression was found in the medial preoptic area [4], in the septum [5] and in the nucleus accumbens during the postpartum maternal state [6]. These microarray analyses identified a large subset of genes participating in neuronal processes, e.g., in ion channel activity and neuronal development [4]
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