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Discrete genetic modules are responsible for complex burrow evolution in Peromyscus mice.

Jesse N Weber¹, Brant K Peterson, Hopi E Hoekstra

¹Department of Organismic & Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.

|January 18, 2013

Summary

Genetics influence complex behaviors like burrow construction in mice. Complex behaviors evolve through multiple genetic changes affecting distinct behavioral modules, not just a few major genes.

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary biology
Behavioral genetics
Animal behavior

Background:

Understanding the genetic basis of complex behaviors is limited compared to morphological traits.
Environmental influences on heritable behaviors and the genetic architecture of behavioral complexity remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

Investigate the genetic underpinnings of complex burrowing behavior in oldfield mice (Peromyscus polionotus) and compare it to their sister species, deer mice (P. maniculatus).
Determine if complex behaviors evolve through few major genetic changes or the accumulation of multiple smaller genetic effects.

Main Methods:

Comparative analysis of burrow architecture in natural populations and laboratory settings.
Genetic crosses (including backcrosses) between oldfield mice and deer mice.
Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis to map genetic regions influencing burrow traits.

Main Results:

Oldfield mice exhibit complex burrowing behavior with long entrance and escape tunnels, distinct from the simpler burrows of deer mice.
Burrowing complexity in oldfield mice is dominant and results from multiple genetic additions.
Burrow traits, such as entrance tunnel length and presence of an escape tunnel, show modularity and are influenced by distinct genetic loci (at least three for tunnel length, one for escape tunnel).

Conclusions:

Complex behaviors, exemplified by the 'extended phenotype' of burrow construction, can evolve through the accumulation of multiple genetic changes impacting distinct behavioral modules.
This contrasts with the idea that complex behaviors solely arise from a few genes with large effects.