Title: | "Chemical fingerprints encode mother-offspring similarity, colony membership, relatedness, and genetic quality in fur seals" |
Author(s): | Stoffel MA; Caspers BA; Forcada J; Giannakara A; Baier M; Eberhart-Phillips L; Muller C; Hoffman JI; |
Address: | "Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany; School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Faculty of Science, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 3AF, United Kingdom; Arbeitsgruppe Olfactory Communication, Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany; j_i_hoffman@hotmail.com barbara.caspers@uni-bielefeld.de. British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Cambridge, CB3 OET, United Kingdom; Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany; Department of Chemical Ecology, Bielefeld University, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany. Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany; j_i_hoffman@hotmail.com barbara.caspers@uni-bielefeld.de" |
ISSN/ISBN: | 1091-6490 (Electronic) 0027-8424 (Print) 0027-8424 (Linking) |
Abstract: | "Chemical communication underpins virtually all aspects of vertebrate social life, yet remains poorly understood because of its highly complex mechanistic basis. We therefore used chemical fingerprinting of skin swabs and genetic analysis to explore the chemical cues that may underlie mother-offspring recognition in colonially breeding Antarctic fur seals. By sampling mother-offspring pairs from two different colonies, using a variety of statistical approaches and genotyping a large panel of microsatellite loci, we show that colony membership, mother-offspring similarity, heterozygosity, and genetic relatedness are all chemically encoded. Moreover, chemical similarity between mothers and offspring reflects a combination of genetic and environmental influences, the former partly encoded by substances resembling known pheromones. Our findings reveal the diversity of information contained within chemical fingerprints and have implications for understanding mother-offspring communication, kin recognition, and mate choice" |
Keywords: | "Animal Communication Animals Antarctic Regions Bayes Theorem Cues Environment Fur Seals/*genetics Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry *Genetic Variation Genetics, Population Genotype Geography Microsatellite Repeats/*genetics Pheromones/chemistry Recogni;" |
Notes: | "MedlineStoffel, Martin A Caspers, Barbara A Forcada, Jaume Giannakara, Athina Baier, Markus Eberhart-Phillips, Luke Muller, Caroline Hoffman, Joseph I eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2015/08/12 Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Sep 8; 112(36):E5005-12. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1506076112. Epub 2015 Aug 10" |