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Arnqvist G, Rowe L. Ecology, the pace-of-life, epistatic selection and the maintenance of genetic variation in life-history genes. Mol Ecol 2023; 32:4713-4724. [PMID: 37386734 DOI: 10.1111/mec.17062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2022] [Revised: 06/09/2023] [Accepted: 06/19/2023] [Indexed: 07/01/2023]
Abstract
Evolutionary genetics has long struggled with understanding how functional genes under selection remain polymorphic in natural populations. Taking as a starting point that natural selection is ultimately a manifestation of ecological processes, we spotlight an underemphasized and potentially ubiquitous ecological effect that may have fundamental effects on the maintenance of genetic variation. Negative frequency dependency is a well-established emergent property of density dependence in ecology, because the relative profitability of different modes of exploiting or utilizing limiting resources tends to be inversely proportional to their frequency in a population. We suggest that this may often generate negative frequency-dependent selection (NFDS) on major effect loci that affect rate-dependent physiological processes, such as metabolic rate, that are phenotypically manifested as polymorphism in pace-of-life syndromes. When such a locus under NFDS shows stable intermediate frequency polymorphism, this should generate epistatic selection potentially involving large numbers of loci with more minor effects on life-history (LH) traits. When alternative alleles at such loci show sign epistasis with a major effect locus, this associative NFDS will promote the maintenance of polygenic variation in LH genes. We provide examples of the kind of major effect loci that could be involved and suggest empirical avenues that may better inform us on the importance and reach of this process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Göran Arnqvist
- Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology and Genetics, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Locke Rowe
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Swedish Collegium of Advanced Study, Uppsala, Sweden
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Kolla NJ, Bortolato M. The role of monoamine oxidase A in the neurobiology of aggressive, antisocial, and violent behavior: A tale of mice and men. Prog Neurobiol 2020; 194:101875. [PMID: 32574581 DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2020.101875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2019] [Revised: 04/20/2020] [Accepted: 06/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Over the past two decades, research has revealed that genetic factors shape the propensity for aggressive, antisocial, and violent behavior. The best-documented gene implicated in aggression is MAOA (Monoamine oxidase A), which encodes the key enzyme for the degradation of serotonin and catecholamines. Congenital MAOA deficiency, as well as low-activity MAOA variants, has been associated with a higher risk for antisocial behavior (ASB) and violence, particularly in males with a history of child maltreatment. Indeed, the interplay between low MAOA genetic variants and early-life adversity is the best-documented gene × environment (G × E) interaction in the pathophysiology of aggression and ASB. Additional evidence indicates that low MAOA activity in the brain is strongly associated with a higher propensity for aggression; furthermore, MAOA inhibition may be one of the primary mechanisms whereby prenatal smoke exposure increases the risk of ASB. Complementary to these lines of evidence, mouse models of Maoa deficiency and G × E interactions exhibit striking similarities with clinical phenotypes, proving to be valuable tools to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms underlying antisocial and aggressive behavior. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of the knowledge on the involvement of MAOA in aggression, as defined by preclinical and clinical evidence. In particular, we show how the convergence of human and animal research is proving helpful to our understanding of how MAOA influences antisocial and violent behavior and how it may assist in the development of preventative and therapeutic strategies for aggressive manifestations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan J Kolla
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Research Imaging Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada; Violence Prevention Neurobiological Research Unit, CAMH, Toronto, ON, Canada; Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care, Penetanguishene, ON, Canada; Translational Initiative on Antisocial Personality Disorder (TrIAD); Program of Research on Violence Etiology, Neurobiology, and Treatment (PReVENT).
| | - Marco Bortolato
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Translational Initiative on Antisocial Personality Disorder (TrIAD); Program of Research on Violence Etiology, Neurobiology, and Treatment (PReVENT).
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Kalbitzer U, Roos C, Kopp GH, Butynski TM, Knauf S, Zinner D, Fischer J. Insights into the genetic foundation of aggression in Papio and the evolution of two length-polymorphisms in the promoter regions of serotonin-related genes (5-HTTLPR and MAOALPR) in Papionini. BMC Evol Biol 2016; 16:121. [PMID: 27287312 PMCID: PMC4901440 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-016-0693-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2016] [Accepted: 05/25/2016] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Aggressive behaviors are an integral part of competitive interactions. There is considerable variation in aggressiveness among individuals both within and among species. Aggressiveness is a quantitative trait that is highly heritable. In modern humans and macaques (Macaca spp.), variation in aggressiveness among individuals is associated with polymorphisms in the serotonergic (5-HT) neurotransmitter system. To further investigate the genetics underlying interspecific variation in aggressiveness, 123 wild individuals from five baboon species (Papio papio, P. hamadryas, P. anubis, P. cynocephalus, and P. ursinus) were screened for two polymorphisms in promoter regions of genes relevant for the 5-HT system (5-HTTLPR and MAOALPR). RESULTS Surprisingly, despite considerable interspecific variation in aggressiveness, baboons are monomorphic in 5-HTTLPR, except for P. hamadryas, which carries one additional allele. Accordingly, this locus cannot be linked to behavioral variation among species. A comparison among 19 papionin species, including nine species of macaques, shows that the most common baboon allele is similar to the one described for Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus), probably representing the ancestral allele in this tribe. It should be noted that (almost) all baboons live in Africa, but within Macaca only M. sylvanus lives on this continent. Baboons are, however, highly polymorphic in the so-called 'warrior gene' MAOALPR, carrying three alleles. Due to considerable variation in allele frequencies among populations of the same species, this genotype cannot be invoked to explain variation in aggressiveness at the species level. CONCLUSIONS This study provides another indication that 5-HTTLPR is not related to aggressiveness in primates per se, but may have been under differential selective pressures among taxa and potentially among populations in different geographic regions. The results on MAOALPR alleles in Papio indicate that variation in the metabolism of monoamine neurotransmitters and associated behaviors is more important among populations than among species. We, therefore, propose to compile behavioral data from additional populations of Papio to obtain further insight into the genetics underlying behavioral differences among primate species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Urs Kalbitzer
- Cognitive Ethology Laboratory, German Primate Center (DPZ), Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada.
| | - Christian Roos
- Gene Bank of Primates and Primate Genetics Laboratory, German Primate Center (DPZ), Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Gisela H Kopp
- Cognitive Ethology Laboratory, German Primate Center (DPZ), Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78457, Constance, Germany
- Department of Migration and Immuno-Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, 78315, Radolfzell, Germany
| | - Thomas M Butynski
- Lolldaiga Hills Research Programme, Sustainability Centre Eastern Africa, P. O. Box 149, Nanyuki, 10400, Kenya
| | - Sascha Knauf
- Work Group Neglected Tropical Diseases, Pathology Unit, German Primate Center (DPZ), Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Dietmar Zinner
- Cognitive Ethology Laboratory, German Primate Center (DPZ), Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Julia Fischer
- Cognitive Ethology Laboratory, German Primate Center (DPZ), Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
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