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Variation in the vasopressin V1a receptor promoter and expression: implications for inter‐ and intraspecific variation in social behaviour *
Author(s) -
Hammock Elizabeth A. D.,
Young Larry J.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
european journal of neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.346
H-Index - 206
eISSN - 1460-9568
pISSN - 0953-816X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1460-9568.2002.02083.x
Subject(s) - biology , genetics , gene , prairie vole , phenotype , gene expression , vasopressin , genetic variation , vasopressin receptor , evolutionary biology , receptor , ecology , microtus , antagonist
Instability in highly repetitive microsatellite DNA located in the regulatory regions of genes may be a major factor producing diversity in both region‐specific gene expression and the resulting phenotypes. Polymorphisms in promoter regions affecting expression of genes involved in regulating behaviour may play a role in generating individual variation in behaviour, including psychopathologies in humans, and probably are also important for the evolution of behaviour. Here we discuss the prairie vole vasopressin V1a receptor gene as a model that may be useful for understanding the evolution of promoter sequences and the relationship between gene sequence, expression and behavioural phenotype.