Regulatory Underpinnings of Behavioral Phenotypes in Anolis carolinensis

Abstract

Regulation of social boldness in lizards remains an underexplored yet necessary field of study, elucidating the underpinnings of mechanisms that drive personality, species interaction, and disease spread. Utilizing a gene expression data set from Kabelik et al (2021), this thesis aims to not only identify modules of genes associated with behavior, but understand the module’s preservation, hub genes, and related ontologies. Furthermore, it attempts to understand if constitutively differentially expressed genes act as hub genes within behaviorally-relevant modules, or rather if their behavior is regulated by these same hub genes. Results indicate that regulatory architecture diverges across regions, evidenced by differences in module number and connectivity. Furthermore, modules significantly associated with behavior were identified in the ventromedial hypothalamus and the hindbrain, with expression patterns broadly preserved across brain regions. Lastly, it is likely that identified hub genes within these modules act as regulatory elements influencing levels of expression of the constitutively differentially expressed genes in the ventromedial hypothalamus identified by Kabelik et al (2021). This study was performed with a small sample size, limiting statistical power, so future research with larger samples is necessary to confirm findings.