Pronounced strain-specific chemosensory receptor gene expression in the mouse vomeronasal organ
Abstract Background The chemosensory system plays an important role in orchestrating sexual behaviors in mammals. Pheromones trigger sexually dimorphic behaviors and different mouse strains exhibit differential responses to pheromone stimuli. It has been speculated that differential gene expression...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2017-12-01
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| Series: | BMC Genomics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12864-017-4364-4 |
| _version_ | 1831789646459174912 |
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| author | Kyle Duyck Vasha DuTell Limei Ma Ariel Paulson C. Ron Yu |
| author_facet | Kyle Duyck Vasha DuTell Limei Ma Ariel Paulson C. Ron Yu |
| author_sort | Kyle Duyck |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background The chemosensory system plays an important role in orchestrating sexual behaviors in mammals. Pheromones trigger sexually dimorphic behaviors and different mouse strains exhibit differential responses to pheromone stimuli. It has been speculated that differential gene expression in the sensory organs that detect pheromones may underlie sexually-dimorphic and strain-specific responses to pheromone cues. Results We have performed transcriptome analyses of the mouse vomeronasal organ, a sensory organ recognizing pheromones and interspecies cues. We find little evidence of sexual dimorphism in gene expression except for Xist, an essential gene for X-linked gene inactivation. Variations in gene expression are found mainly among strains, with genes from immune response and chemosensory receptor classes dominating the list. Differentially expressed genes are concentrated in genomic hotspots enriched in these families of genes. Some chemosensory receptors show exclusive patterns of expression in different strains. We find high levels of single nucleotide polymorphism in chemosensory receptor pseudogenes, some of which lead to functionalized receptors. Moreover, we identify a number of differentially expressed long noncoding RNA species showing strong correlation or anti-correlation with chemoreceptor genes. Conclusions Our analyses provide little evidence supporting sexually dimorphic gene expression in the vomeronasal organ that may underlie dimorphic pheromone responses. In contrast, we find pronounced variations in the expression of immune response related genes, vomeronasal and G-protein coupled receptor genes among different mouse strains. These findings raised the possibility that diverse strains of mouse perceive pheromone cues differently and behavioral difference among strains in response to pheromone may first arise from differential detection of pheromones. On the other hand, sexually dimorphic responses to pheromones more likely originate from dimorphic neural circuits in the brain than from differential detection. Moreover, noncoding RNA may offer a potential regulatory mechanism controlling the differential expression patterns. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T14:15:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-10decf9f86c741f79495b92c2bf43e4d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2164 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T14:15:56Z |
| publishDate | 2017-12-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Genomics |
| spelling | doaj.art-10decf9f86c741f79495b92c2bf43e4d2022-12-21T18:23:07ZengBMCBMC Genomics1471-21642017-12-0118111610.1186/s12864-017-4364-4Pronounced strain-specific chemosensory receptor gene expression in the mouse vomeronasal organKyle Duyck0Vasha DuTell1Limei Ma2Ariel Paulson3C. Ron Yu4Stowers Institute for Medical ResearchStowers Institute for Medical ResearchStowers Institute for Medical ResearchStowers Institute for Medical ResearchStowers Institute for Medical ResearchAbstract Background The chemosensory system plays an important role in orchestrating sexual behaviors in mammals. Pheromones trigger sexually dimorphic behaviors and different mouse strains exhibit differential responses to pheromone stimuli. It has been speculated that differential gene expression in the sensory organs that detect pheromones may underlie sexually-dimorphic and strain-specific responses to pheromone cues. Results We have performed transcriptome analyses of the mouse vomeronasal organ, a sensory organ recognizing pheromones and interspecies cues. We find little evidence of sexual dimorphism in gene expression except for Xist, an essential gene for X-linked gene inactivation. Variations in gene expression are found mainly among strains, with genes from immune response and chemosensory receptor classes dominating the list. Differentially expressed genes are concentrated in genomic hotspots enriched in these families of genes. Some chemosensory receptors show exclusive patterns of expression in different strains. We find high levels of single nucleotide polymorphism in chemosensory receptor pseudogenes, some of which lead to functionalized receptors. Moreover, we identify a number of differentially expressed long noncoding RNA species showing strong correlation or anti-correlation with chemoreceptor genes. Conclusions Our analyses provide little evidence supporting sexually dimorphic gene expression in the vomeronasal organ that may underlie dimorphic pheromone responses. In contrast, we find pronounced variations in the expression of immune response related genes, vomeronasal and G-protein coupled receptor genes among different mouse strains. These findings raised the possibility that diverse strains of mouse perceive pheromone cues differently and behavioral difference among strains in response to pheromone may first arise from differential detection of pheromones. On the other hand, sexually dimorphic responses to pheromones more likely originate from dimorphic neural circuits in the brain than from differential detection. Moreover, noncoding RNA may offer a potential regulatory mechanism controlling the differential expression patterns.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12864-017-4364-4VomeronasalPheromoneSexual dimorphicStrainInnate behaviorG-protein coupled receptor |
| spellingShingle | Kyle Duyck Vasha DuTell Limei Ma Ariel Paulson C. Ron Yu Pronounced strain-specific chemosensory receptor gene expression in the mouse vomeronasal organ BMC Genomics Vomeronasal Pheromone Sexual dimorphic Strain Innate behavior G-protein coupled receptor |
| title | Pronounced strain-specific chemosensory receptor gene expression in the mouse vomeronasal organ |
| title_full | Pronounced strain-specific chemosensory receptor gene expression in the mouse vomeronasal organ |
| title_fullStr | Pronounced strain-specific chemosensory receptor gene expression in the mouse vomeronasal organ |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pronounced strain-specific chemosensory receptor gene expression in the mouse vomeronasal organ |
| title_short | Pronounced strain-specific chemosensory receptor gene expression in the mouse vomeronasal organ |
| title_sort | pronounced strain specific chemosensory receptor gene expression in the mouse vomeronasal organ |
| topic | Vomeronasal Pheromone Sexual dimorphic Strain Innate behavior G-protein coupled receptor |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12864-017-4364-4 |
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