Inheritance of social dominance is associated with global sperm DNA methylation in inbred male mice  

作　　者：Guan-Mei Hou Yao-Hua Zhang Jian-Xu Zhang 

机构地区：[1]The State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents,Institute of Zoology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100101,China [2]CAS Center for Excellence in Biotic Interactions,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100101,China

出　　处：《Current Zoology》2023年第2期143-155,共13页动物学报（英文版）

基　　金：supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(grant numbers 31872227 and 32070451);the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(grant no.XDPB16).

摘　　要：Dominance relationships between males and their associated traits are usually heritable and have implications for sexual selection in animals.In particular,social dominance and its related male pheromones are heritable in inbred mice;thus,we wondered whether epigenetic changes due to altered levels of DNA methylation determine inheritance.Here,we used C57BL/6 male mice to establish a social dominance-subordination relationship through chronic dyadic encounters,and this relationship and pheromone covariation occurred in their offspring,indicative of heritability.Through transcriptome sequencing and whole-genome DNA methylation profiling of the sperm of both generations,we found that differential methylation of many genes was induced by social dominance-subordination in sires and could be passed on to the offspring.These methylated genes were mainly related to growth and development processes,neurodevelopment,and cellular transportation.The expression of the genes with similar functions in whole-genome methylation/bisulfite sequencing was also differentiated by social dominance-subordination,as revealed by RNA-seq.In particular,the gene Dennd1a,which regulates neural signaling,was differentially methylated and expressed in the sperm and medial prefrontal cortex in paired males before and after dominance-subordination establishment,suggesting the potential epigenetic control and inheritance of social dominance-related aggression.We suggest that social dominance might be passed on to male offspring through sperm DNA methylation and that the differences could potentially affect male competition in offspring by affecting the development of thenervous system.

关 键 词：AGGRESSION epigenetic inheritance PHEROMONE social hierarchy WGBs 

分 类 号：Q95[生物学—动物学]