RELATION OF GENE , NEUROLOGY AND BEHAVIOUR CASE STUDY  ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR-zoology

1. RELATION OF GENE , NEUROLOGY AND BEHAVIOUR
CASE STUDY
ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR
Abhinaya Alley
Bsc zoology
Sikkim university

2. Genetic effect for behaviour
• Knock out gene experiment in laboratory mice
• The probability that one gene protein can be critical for
development of behaviour can be better understand by following this
experiment.

3. Single gene effect

5. • Wild female
• Collect pups and crouch over them permitting them to nurse.
• If pups rolled out the female parents do collect it readily.

6. Similarity between wild and mutant
• Nervous system to receive the stimulus in the form of odour,
sight , touch, sound etc.
• Brain cells to interpret the signals.
• Then why mutant did not show any response to such
stimulus?

7. • Preoptic region : it is the region in hypothalamus which receives
all stimulus and in response fosB gene get activated.
• FOSB protein is produced which bring physiological change in
POA thus wild type collects their pups readily.
• This particular neural change do not occur in mutant types.

9. Male sniff her for long time then only mate .
If same female is removed and introduced again in the same
cage male will spend time similar to first time when they
meet.
For wild type male remember the scent of female thus do
not give much preferences in second or repeated
introduction in cage.

11. • Thus Oxt gene enhance rat ability to remember the smell of
female rat.
• However mutant male has no problem to differentiate the
scent of other things .

12. • fosB gene/ Oxt gene both this genes produce s its
products which has significant role in setting biochemical
pathway, neural pathway functioning in a particular way.

13. • fosB gene/ Oxt gene both this genes produce s its products which has significant role
in setting biochemical pathway, neural pathway functioning in a particular way.

14. • Hormone relation with behaviour.
• Honey bee: division of labour
• Workers : sterile female
• Drones: fertile males
• Queen
• After period of nursing (3 week) of newly
hatched workers they go for foraging .
• Question was ? What causes this behaviour ?

15. • Corpora allata : gland which produces the
juvenile hormone .
• Young workers have very less juvenile hormone
in comparison to old workers.
• Switch from juvenile to forager is because of
production of juvenile hormone and
enlargement of mushroom bodies.

16. This switching of juvenile to forager is again a result of social
condition.
Because in hives with large no. Of foragers have juvenile which normally take 3 weeks or
more to become foragers while in case where there is less no. Of forgers , juvenile
becomes foragers earlier then normal.
Thus the key regulation of hormone synthesis is done by social
cues : interaction of juveniles with adults.

19. ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
Many birds dispose eggshell: trampled into the
nest, eaten by parents, picked up and carried
away
This gull removes the eggshell by picking it up in its bill
and flying some distance away before dropping it,
invariably within a few hours of hatching

20. Egg removal might benefit the gull in various
ways.
i) Sharp edges of the shell might injure the chicks
ii) Shell might slip over an unhatched egg, thus trapping the egg in
double shell
iii) The shells might interfere with brooding
iv) Inside of the shell might become breeding ground for infectious
organisms
v) White inside of the shell might attract the predators

21. Testing hypothesis of antipredator
activity(eggshell removal maintains nest
camouflage):
• Laid out eggs in a widely scattered patterns (about 20m apart)
outside the gull colony, area resembled that of a gullery
i) Hens eggs laid out some of them painted to look like gulls eggs
ii) Gulls eggs laid out , camouflaged with bits of vegetation (some with
a broken eggshell nearby ) or painted white

22. i) Normal hen eggs were taken much more quickly than artificially
camouflaged hen eggs by the predators
ii) Black-headed gull eggs painted white more vulnerable than unpainted
Black-headed gull eggs
iii) Eggs with broken eggshells placed nearby much more vulnerable
iv) Carrion crows soon learn to associate broken eggshell with presence of
eggs

23. Results of the experiment strongly suggest that
the presence of broken egg shell near the nest of
Black-headed gull makes the nest more
vulnerable to predators because it makes the
nest easy to spot from air.
But the gull does not remove the shell
immediately but waits about an hour before
doing so- delay allows time for chick to dry
Chicks are then more robust, better camouflaged,
and less easily swallowed by a predator

24. THANK YOU FOR WATCHING