Heritability of interpack aggression in a wild pedigreed population of North American grey wolves
Aggression is a quantitative trait deeply entwined with individual fitness. Mapping the genomic architecture underlying such traits is complicated by complex inheritance patterns, social structure, pedigree information and gene pleiotropy. Here, we leveraged the pedigree of a reintroduced population...
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ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org:ark:/13030/qt5j22302z 2023-11-05T03:41:09+01:00 Heritability of interpack aggression in a wild pedigreed population of North American grey wolves vonHoldt, Bridgett M DeCandia, Alexandra L Heppenheimer, Elizabeth Janowitz‐Koch, Ilana Shi, Ruoyao Zhou, Hua German, Christopher A Brzeski, Kristin E Cassidy, Kira A Stahler, Daniel R Sinsheimer, Janet S 1764 - 1775 2020-05-01 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5j22302z unknown eScholarship, University of California qt5j22302z https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5j22302z public Molecular Ecology, vol 29, iss 10 Biological Sciences Ecology Genetics Mental Health Prevention Aggression Animals Behavior Animal Pedigree Polymorphism Single Nucleotide Reproduction United States Wolves Wyoming behaviour canid heritability RAD-seq Evolutionary Biology article 2020 ftcdlib 2023-10-09T18:06:34Z Aggression is a quantitative trait deeply entwined with individual fitness. Mapping the genomic architecture underlying such traits is complicated by complex inheritance patterns, social structure, pedigree information and gene pleiotropy. Here, we leveraged the pedigree of a reintroduced population of grey wolves (Canis lupus) in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA, to examine the heritability of and the genetic variation associated with aggression. Since their reintroduction, many ecological and behavioural aspects have been documented, providing unmatched records of aggressive behaviour across multiple generations of a wild population of wolves. Using a linear mixed model, a robust genetic relationship matrix, 12,288 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 111 wolves, we estimated the SNP-based heritability of aggression to be 37% and an additional 14% of the phenotypic variation explained by shared environmental exposures. We identified 598 SNP genotypes from 425 grey wolves to resolve a consensus pedigree that was included in a heritability analysis of 141 individuals with SNP genotype, metadata and aggression data. The pedigree-based heritability estimate for aggression is 14%, and an additional 16% of the phenotypic variation was explained by shared environmental exposures. We find strong effects of breeding status and relative pack size on aggression. Through an integrative approach, these results provide a framework for understanding the genetic architecture of a complex trait that influences individual fitness, with linkages to reproduction, in a social carnivore. Along with a few other studies, we show here the incredible utility of a pedigreed natural population for dissecting a complex, fitness-related behavioural trait. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus University of California: eScholarship |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Biological Sciences Ecology Genetics Mental Health Prevention Aggression Animals Behavior Animal Pedigree Polymorphism Single Nucleotide Reproduction United States Wolves Wyoming behaviour canid heritability RAD-seq Evolutionary Biology |
spellingShingle |
Biological Sciences Ecology Genetics Mental Health Prevention Aggression Animals Behavior Animal Pedigree Polymorphism Single Nucleotide Reproduction United States Wolves Wyoming behaviour canid heritability RAD-seq Evolutionary Biology vonHoldt, Bridgett M DeCandia, Alexandra L Heppenheimer, Elizabeth Janowitz‐Koch, Ilana Shi, Ruoyao Zhou, Hua German, Christopher A Brzeski, Kristin E Cassidy, Kira A Stahler, Daniel R Sinsheimer, Janet S Heritability of interpack aggression in a wild pedigreed population of North American grey wolves |
topic_facet |
Biological Sciences Ecology Genetics Mental Health Prevention Aggression Animals Behavior Animal Pedigree Polymorphism Single Nucleotide Reproduction United States Wolves Wyoming behaviour canid heritability RAD-seq Evolutionary Biology |
description |
Aggression is a quantitative trait deeply entwined with individual fitness. Mapping the genomic architecture underlying such traits is complicated by complex inheritance patterns, social structure, pedigree information and gene pleiotropy. Here, we leveraged the pedigree of a reintroduced population of grey wolves (Canis lupus) in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA, to examine the heritability of and the genetic variation associated with aggression. Since their reintroduction, many ecological and behavioural aspects have been documented, providing unmatched records of aggressive behaviour across multiple generations of a wild population of wolves. Using a linear mixed model, a robust genetic relationship matrix, 12,288 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 111 wolves, we estimated the SNP-based heritability of aggression to be 37% and an additional 14% of the phenotypic variation explained by shared environmental exposures. We identified 598 SNP genotypes from 425 grey wolves to resolve a consensus pedigree that was included in a heritability analysis of 141 individuals with SNP genotype, metadata and aggression data. The pedigree-based heritability estimate for aggression is 14%, and an additional 16% of the phenotypic variation was explained by shared environmental exposures. We find strong effects of breeding status and relative pack size on aggression. Through an integrative approach, these results provide a framework for understanding the genetic architecture of a complex trait that influences individual fitness, with linkages to reproduction, in a social carnivore. Along with a few other studies, we show here the incredible utility of a pedigreed natural population for dissecting a complex, fitness-related behavioural trait. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
vonHoldt, Bridgett M DeCandia, Alexandra L Heppenheimer, Elizabeth Janowitz‐Koch, Ilana Shi, Ruoyao Zhou, Hua German, Christopher A Brzeski, Kristin E Cassidy, Kira A Stahler, Daniel R Sinsheimer, Janet S |
author_facet |
vonHoldt, Bridgett M DeCandia, Alexandra L Heppenheimer, Elizabeth Janowitz‐Koch, Ilana Shi, Ruoyao Zhou, Hua German, Christopher A Brzeski, Kristin E Cassidy, Kira A Stahler, Daniel R Sinsheimer, Janet S |
author_sort |
vonHoldt, Bridgett M |
title |
Heritability of interpack aggression in a wild pedigreed population of North American grey wolves |
title_short |
Heritability of interpack aggression in a wild pedigreed population of North American grey wolves |
title_full |
Heritability of interpack aggression in a wild pedigreed population of North American grey wolves |
title_fullStr |
Heritability of interpack aggression in a wild pedigreed population of North American grey wolves |
title_full_unstemmed |
Heritability of interpack aggression in a wild pedigreed population of North American grey wolves |
title_sort |
heritability of interpack aggression in a wild pedigreed population of north american grey wolves |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5j22302z |
op_coverage |
1764 - 1775 |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_source |
Molecular Ecology, vol 29, iss 10 |
op_relation |
qt5j22302z https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5j22302z |
op_rights |
public |
_version_ |
1781697450157801472 |