QTL mapping and analysis of heritable variation in affiliative social behavior and related traits

Humans exhibit broad heterogeneity in affiliative social behavior. Twin and family studies demonstrate that individual differences in core dimensions of social behavior are heritable, yet there are knowledge gaps in understanding the underlying genetic and neurobiological mechanisms. Animal genetic reference panels (GRPs) provide a tractable strategy for examining the behavioral and genetic architecture of complex traits. Here, using males from 50 mouse strains from the BXD GRP, four domains of affiliative social behavior—social approach, social recognition, direct social interaction (partner sniffing), and vocal communication—were examined in two widely used behavioral tasks—the 3‐chamber and direct social interaction tasks. There was continuous and broad variation in social and non‐social traits, with moderate to high heritability of social approach sniff preference (0.31), ultrasonic vocalization (USV) count (0.39), partner sniffing (0.51), locomotor activity (0.54‐0.66), and anxiety‐like behavior (0.36). Principal component analysis reveals that variation in social and non‐social traits are attributable to 5 independent factors. Genome‐wide mapping identified significant quantitative trait loci for USV count on chromosome (Chr) 18 and locomotor activity on Chr X, with suggestive loci and candidate quantitative trait genes identified for all traits with one notable exception—partner sniffing in the direct social interaction task. The results demonstrate...

Source: Genes, Brain and Behavior - October 20, 2017 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Allison T. Knoll, Kevin Jiang, Pat Levitt Tags: Original Article Source Type: research