NSF Award
1145866
A longstanding challenge in behavioral research has been to identify the internal factors that bring about differences in behavior between individuals or species. Despite the importance of this goal, there is a paucity of information about the genetic and neural mechanisms that underlie the dramatic differences in behavior observed within and among species in the wild. This project seeks to identify the mechanisms that underlie divergence in social behaviors, using schooling behavior in stickleback fish as a model system. Sticklebacks are an emerging genetic model system with numerous populations that differ in behavior, making them ideally suited to this work. Sticklebacks from marine and freshwater environments exhibit striking differences in schooling behavior. A combination of modern genetic and neurobiological approaches will be used to dissect the genes and neural circuits that underlie differences in schooling behavior between stickleback populations. <br/><br/>This work has the potential to yield one of only a few known "behavior genes" in any system and one of the first genes that shape behavioral differences between divergent populations of animals in the wild. In addition, this work seeks to link genetic variation to variation in the nervous system, thereby providing important insight into the process of behavioral divergence. <br/><br/>This project will provide opportunities for undergraduate students to gain experience in cutting- edge genetic analysis. In addition, a collaboration has been established with a Seattle-area high school serving a diverse community of students. These students will participate in the analysis of the behavioral and genetic data from this project, providing them with a unique opportunity for engagement in the scientific process.
