Sex chromosome gene expression associated with vocal learning following hormonal manipulation in female zebra finches
Zebra finches are sexually dimorphic vocal learners. Males learn to sing by imitating mature conspecifics, but females do not. Absence of song in females is associated with partial atrophy and apparent repression of several vocal learning brain regions during development. However, atrophy can be pre...
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2025-06-01
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| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/89425 |
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| author | Matthew Davenport Ha Na Choe Hiroaki Matsunami Erich Jarvis |
| author_facet | Matthew Davenport Ha Na Choe Hiroaki Matsunami Erich Jarvis |
| author_sort | Matthew Davenport |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Zebra finches are sexually dimorphic vocal learners. Males learn to sing by imitating mature conspecifics, but females do not. Absence of song in females is associated with partial atrophy and apparent repression of several vocal learning brain regions during development. However, atrophy can be prevented, and vocal learning retained in females when given early pharmacological estrogen treatment. To screen for candidate drivers of this sexual dimorphism, we performed an unbiased transcriptomic analysis of song learning nuclei specializations relative to the surrounding regions from either sex, treated with vehicle or estrogen until 30 days of age when divergence between the sexes becomes anatomically apparent. Analyses of transcriptomes by RNA sequencing identified song nuclei-specialized gene expressed modules associated with sex and estrogen manipulation. Female HVC and Area X gene modules were specialized by estrogen supplementation, exhibiting a subset of the transcriptomic specializations observed in males. Female robust nucleus of the arcopallium (RA) and lateral magnocellular nucleus of the anterior nidopallium (LMAN) specialized modules were less dependent on estrogen. The estrogen-induced gene modules in females were enriched for anatomical development functions and strongly correlated to the expression of several Z sex chromosome genes. We present a hypothesis where reduced dosage and expression of these Z chromosome genes suppress the full development of the song system and thus song learning behavior, which is partially rescued by estrogen treatment. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2caa945cc4954ec7829df38f54d7d31f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
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| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj-art-2caa945cc4954ec7829df38f54d7d31f2025-08-20T03:29:52ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2025-06-011210.7554/eLife.89425Sex chromosome gene expression associated with vocal learning following hormonal manipulation in female zebra finchesMatthew Davenport0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5699-6295Ha Na Choe1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9535-5258Hiroaki Matsunami2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8850-2608Erich Jarvis3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8931-5049Laboratory Language Neurogenetics, The Rockefeller University, New York City, United StatesDepartment of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, United StatesDepartment of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, United States; Department of Neurobiology, Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, United StatesLaboratory Language Neurogenetics, The Rockefeller University, New York City, United States; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, United StatesZebra finches are sexually dimorphic vocal learners. Males learn to sing by imitating mature conspecifics, but females do not. Absence of song in females is associated with partial atrophy and apparent repression of several vocal learning brain regions during development. However, atrophy can be prevented, and vocal learning retained in females when given early pharmacological estrogen treatment. To screen for candidate drivers of this sexual dimorphism, we performed an unbiased transcriptomic analysis of song learning nuclei specializations relative to the surrounding regions from either sex, treated with vehicle or estrogen until 30 days of age when divergence between the sexes becomes anatomically apparent. Analyses of transcriptomes by RNA sequencing identified song nuclei-specialized gene expressed modules associated with sex and estrogen manipulation. Female HVC and Area X gene modules were specialized by estrogen supplementation, exhibiting a subset of the transcriptomic specializations observed in males. Female robust nucleus of the arcopallium (RA) and lateral magnocellular nucleus of the anterior nidopallium (LMAN) specialized modules were less dependent on estrogen. The estrogen-induced gene modules in females were enriched for anatomical development functions and strongly correlated to the expression of several Z sex chromosome genes. We present a hypothesis where reduced dosage and expression of these Z chromosome genes suppress the full development of the song system and thus song learning behavior, which is partially rescued by estrogen treatment.https://elifesciences.org/articles/89425T. castanotisvocal learningT. guttatasex differencesex chromosomessex hormones |
| spellingShingle | Matthew Davenport Ha Na Choe Hiroaki Matsunami Erich Jarvis Sex chromosome gene expression associated with vocal learning following hormonal manipulation in female zebra finches eLife T. castanotis vocal learning T. guttata sex difference sex chromosomes sex hormones |
| title | Sex chromosome gene expression associated with vocal learning following hormonal manipulation in female zebra finches |
| title_full | Sex chromosome gene expression associated with vocal learning following hormonal manipulation in female zebra finches |
| title_fullStr | Sex chromosome gene expression associated with vocal learning following hormonal manipulation in female zebra finches |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sex chromosome gene expression associated with vocal learning following hormonal manipulation in female zebra finches |
| title_short | Sex chromosome gene expression associated with vocal learning following hormonal manipulation in female zebra finches |
| title_sort | sex chromosome gene expression associated with vocal learning following hormonal manipulation in female zebra finches |
| topic | T. castanotis vocal learning T. guttata sex difference sex chromosomes sex hormones |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/89425 |
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