Androgen receptor gene polymorphism in zebra species

Hideyuki Ito; Tanya Langenhorst; Rob Ogden; Miho Inoue-Murayama

doi:10.1016/j.mgene.2015.06.006

Androgen receptor gene polymorphism in zebra species

Meta Gene. 2015 Jun 30:5:120-3. doi: 10.1016/j.mgene.2015.06.006. eCollection 2015 Sep.

Authors

Hideyuki Ito¹, Tanya Langenhorst², Rob Ogden³, Miho Inoue-Murayama⁴

Affiliations

¹ Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Japan ; Kyoto City Zoo, Japan.
² Marwell Wildlife, United Kingdom.
³ Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Japan ; Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, United Kingdom.
⁴ Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Japan ; Wildlife Genome Collaborative Research Group, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan.

Abstract

Androgen receptor genes (AR) have been found to have associations with reproductive development, behavioral traits, and disorders in humans. However, the influence of similar genetic effects on the behavior of other animals is scarce. We examined the loci AR glutamine repeat (ARQ) in 44 Grevy's zebras, 23 plains zebras, and three mountain zebras, and compared them with those of domesticated horses. We observed polymorphism among zebra species and between zebra and horse. As androgens such as testosterone influence aggressiveness, AR polymorphism among equid species may be associated with differences in levels of aggression and tameness. Our findings indicate that it would be useful to conduct further studies focusing on the potential association between AR and personality traits, and to understand domestication of equid species.

Keywords: Androgen receptor; Equus; VNTR; Zebra.