Back to the basics? Transcriptomics offers integrative insights into the role of space, time and the environment for gene expression and behaviour

Eva K. Fischer; Mark E Hauber; Alison M. Bell

doi:10.1098/rsbl.2021.0293

journal article Sep 01, 2021

Back to the basics? Transcriptomics offers integrative insights into the role of space, time and the environment for gene expression and behaviour

Eva K. Fischer

Mark E Hauber

Alison M. Bell

Biology Letters Vol. 17 No. 9 pp. 20210293 · The Royal Society

View at Publisher Save 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0293

Abstract

Fuelled by the ongoing genomic revolution, broadscale RNA expression surveys are fast replacing studies targeting one or a few genes to understand the molecular basis of behaviour. Yet, the timescale of RNA-sequencing experiments and the dynamics of neural gene activation are insufficient to drive real-time switches between behavioural states. Moreover, the spatial, functional and transcriptional complexity of the brain (the most commonly targeted tissue in studies of behaviour) further complicates inference. We argue that a Central Dogma-like ‘back-to-basics’ assumption that gene expression changes cause behaviour leaves some of the most important aspects of gene–behaviour relationships unexplored, including the roles of environmental influences, timing and feedback from behaviour—and the environmental shifts it causes—to neural gene expression. No perfect experimental solutions exist but we advocate that explicit consideration, exploration and discussion of these factors will pave the way toward a richer understanding of the complicated relationships between genes, environments, brain gene expression and behaviour over developmental and evolutionary timescales.

Topics

No keywords indexed for this article. Browse by subject →

References

49

[1]

10.1093/oso/9780195122343.001.0001

[2]

10.1098/rstb.2010.0363

[3]

10.1016/j.yhbeh.2005.01.002

[4]

10.1371/journal.pgen.1008771

[5]

10.1007/s00018-020-03542-7

[6]

10.1093/molbev/msx293

[7]

Hale MC, McKinney GJ, Thrower FP, Nichols KM. 2016 RNA-seq reveals differential gene expression in the brains of juvenile resident and migratory smolt rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Comp. Biochem. Physiol. D 20, 136-150. (doi:10.1016/j.cbd.2016.07.006)

[8]

10.1098/rspb.2013.2310

[9]

10.1038/ncomms9449

[10]

10.1126/science.1086807

[11]

10.1186/1471-2164-8-288

[12]

10.1159/000328221

[13]

10.1111/gbb.12379

[14]

10.1111/gbb.12275

[15]

10.1098/rspb.2007.1454

[16]

10.1371/journal.pgen.1006840

[17]

10.1086/285134

[18]

10.1111/j.1474-919x.1959.tb02405.x

[19]

10.1038/scientificamerican1164-48

[20]

10.1016/j.cub.2008.03.031

[21]

10.1016/j.tree.2008.07.010

[22]

10.1038/nature05453

[23]

10.1038/s41586-018-0027-0

[24]

10.1186/1471-2164-13-356

[25]

10.1126/science.aau5324

[26]

10.1073/pnas.1911413116

[27]

10.1186/s12915-019-0630-z

[28]

10.1093/icb/icr049

[29]

10.1016/j.tree.2015.04.002

[30]

10.1038/s41559-018-0605-4

[31]

10.1073/pnas.1820837116

[32]

10.1146/annurev-neuro-092820-012959

[33]

10.1038/s41467-018-02971-0

[34]

10.1016/0018-506x(85)90042-x

[35]

10.1016/j.yhbeh.2012.01.005

[36]

10.1126/science.1174929

[37]

10.1038/nn1639

[38]

10.1038/nn.2404

[39]

10.1242/jeb.190058

[40]

10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104882

[41]

10.1098/rspb.2019.1084

[42]

10.1111/gbb.12657

[43]

10.1016/j.cub.2019.09.046

[44]

10.1242/jeb.213447

[45]

10.1098/rstb.2018.0242

[46]

10.1016/j.neuron.2021.02.002

[47]

10.1111/gbb.12502

[48]

10.1038/s41559-018-0775-0

[49]

10.2307/1382486

Metrics

25

Citations

49

References

Details

Published: Sep 01, 2021
Vol/Issue: 17(9)
Pages: 20210293
License: View

Authors

E

Eva K. Fischer

Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL 61801, USA; Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL 61801, USA

M

Mark E Hauber

Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL 61801, USA; Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL 61801, USA

A

Alison M. Bell

Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL 61801, USA; Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL 61801, USA

Cite This Article

Eva K. Fischer, Mark E Hauber, Alison M. Bell (2021). Back to the basics? Transcriptomics offers integrative insights into the role of space, time and the environment for gene expression and behaviour. Biology Letters, 17(9), 20210293. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0293

Back to the basics? Transcriptomics offers integrative insights into the role of space, time and the environment for gene expression and behaviour

You May Also Like