Biological Sciences Division
Published June 17, 2020 | Version v1
Journal article Open

Behavioral and brain- transcriptomic synchronization between the two opponents of a fighting pair of the fish Betta splendens

Creators

  • 1. Kitasato University
  • 2. Foundation for Advancement of International Science
  • 3. National Institute for Basic Biology
  • 4. National Cheng Kung University
  • 5. Niigata University
  • 6. Keio University
  • 7. Academia Sinica
  • 8. King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
  • 9. University of Chicago

Description

Conspecific male animals fight for resources such as food and mating opportunities but typically stop fighting after assessing their relative fighting abilities to avoid serious injuries. Physiologically, how the fighting behavior is controlled remains unknown. Using the fighting fish Betta splendens, we studied behavioral and brain-transcriptomic changes during the fight between the two opponents. At the behavioral level, surface-breathing, and biting/striking occurred only during intervals between mouth-locking. Eventually, the behaviors of the two opponents became synchronized, with each pair showing a unique behavioral pattern. At the physiological level, we examined the expression patterns of 23,306 brain transcripts using RNA-sequencing data from brains of fighting pairs after a 20-min (D20) and a 60-min (D60) fight. The two opponents in each D60 fighting pair showed a strong gene expression correlation, whereas those in D20 fighting pairs showed a weak correlation. Moreover, each fighting pair in the D60 group showed pair-specific gene expression patterns in a grade of membership analysis (GoM) and were grouped as a pair in the heatmap clustering. The observed pair-specific individualization in brain-transcriptomic synchronization (PIBS) suggested that this synchronization provides a physiological basis for the behavioral synchronization. An analysis using the synchronized genes in fighting pairs of the D60 group found genes enriched for ion transport, synaptic function, and learning and memory. Brain-transcriptomic synchronization could be a general phenomenon and may provide a new cornerstone with which to investigate coordinating and sustaining social interactions between two interacting partners of vertebrates.

Data availability

The RNA-Seq data are accessible on DDBJ (https://www.ddbj.nig.ac.jp/index-e.html) with this ID: DRA009599.

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Additional details

Identifiers

DOI
10.1371/journal.pgen.1008831
Other
oai:uchicago.tind.io:6213

Funding

National Cheng Kung University
D104-38A05
National Cheng Kung University
Aim for the Top University Project
Ministry of Science and Technology
NSC 102-2621-B-006-002-
Ministry of Science and Technology
MOST 103-2621-B-006-005-
Ministry of Science and Technology
MOST 107-2311-B-001-016-MY3
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, KibanB

UChicago Information

Division(s)
Biological Sciences Division
Department(s)
Ecology and Evolution