A supergene-linked estrogen receptor drives alternative phenotypes in a polymorphic songbird
Jennifer R. Merritt, Kathleen E. Grogan, Wendy M. Zinzow-Kramer, Dan Sun, Eric A. Ortlund, Soojin V. Yi, Donna L. Maney
Abstract
Significance The white-throated sparrow, a common North American songbird, is a valuable model in behavioral genetics because of a chromosomal rearrangement that segregates with a behavioral phenotype. Birds with the rearrangement are more aggressive than those without it. Here we show that genetic differentiation of a single gene inside the rearrangement changes how that gene is regulated, driving higher levels of expression in birds with the aggressive phenotype and altering behavior. By experimentally reducing the expression of this one gene, we were able to change the phenotype of the more aggressive birds to the less aggressive phenotype. These results contribute to a greater understanding of how social behaviors can be encoded in the genome and how they evolve.