TY - JOUR
T1 - Heritability of interpack aggression in a wild pedigreed population of North American grey wolves
AU - vonHoldt, Bridgett M.
AU - DeCandia, Alexandra L.
AU - Heppenheimer, Elizabeth
AU - Janowitz-Koch, Ilana
AU - Shi, Ruoyao
AU - Zhou, Hua
AU - German, Christopher A.
AU - Brzeski, Kristin E.
AU - Cassidy, Kira A.
AU - Stahler, Daniel R.
AU - Sinsheimer, Janet S.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank the Princeton University Computational Science & Engineering Support (CSES) group for providing computational assistance for multiple components of our work. This study was supported in part by the National Science Foundation (DEB‐1245373 and DMS 1264153), the NIH (GM053275), Yellowstone National Park and many donors through Yellowstone Forever. This material was also partially supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (DGE1656466).
Funding Information:
We thank the Princeton University Computational Science & Engineering Support (CSES) group for providing computational assistance for multiple components of our work. This study was supported in part by the National Science Foundation (DEB-1245373 and DMS 1264153), the NIH (GM053275), Yellowstone National Park and many donors through Yellowstone Forever. This material was also partially supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (DGE1656466).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
PY - 2020/5/1
Y1 - 2020/5/1
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - RAD-seq
KW - aggression
KW - behaviour
KW - canid
KW - heritability
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U2 - 10.1111/mec.15349
DO - 10.1111/mec.15349
M3 - Article
C2 - 31905256
AN - SCOPUS:85078716126
SN - 0962-1083
VL - 29
SP - 1764
EP - 1775
JO - Molecular ecology
JF - Molecular ecology
IS - 10
ER -