Data from: Brain transcriptional profiles of male alternative reproductive tactics and females in bluegill sunfish

Bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) are one of the classic systems for
studying male alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) in teleost fishes.
In this species, there are two distinct life histories: parental and
cuckolder, encompassing three reproductive tactics, parental, satellite,
and sneaker. The parental life history is fixed, whereas individuals who
enter the cuckolder life history transition from sneaker to satellite
tactic as they grow. For this study, we used RNAseq to characterize the
brain transcriptome of the three male tactics and females during spawning
to identify gene ontology (GO) categories and potential candidate genes
associated with each tactic. We found that sneaker males had higher levels
of gene expression differentiation compared to the other two male tactics.
Sneaker males also had higher expression in ionotropic glutamate receptor
genes, specifically AMPA receptors, compared to other males, which may be
important for increased spatial working memory while attempting to cuckold
parental males at their nests. Larger differences in gene expression also
occurred among male tactics than between males and females. We found
significant expression differences in several candidate genes that were
previously identified in other species with ARTs and suggest a previously
undescribed role for cAMP-responsive element modulator (crem) in
influencing parental male behaviors during spawning.

蓝鳃太阳鱼（Bluegill sunfish，Lepomis macrochirus）是研究硬骨鱼雄性替代繁殖策略（male alternative reproductive tactics，ARTs）的经典模式系统之一。该物种存在两种截然不同的生活史类型：亲代型与寄生型，涵盖三种繁殖策略：亲代策略、卫星策略与偷袭策略。亲代型生活史固定不变，而选择寄生型生活史的个体在成长过程中会从偷袭策略转换为卫星策略。本研究采用RNA测序（RNA-seq）技术，对产卵期三种雄性繁殖策略个体及雌性个体的大脑转录组进行表征分析，以鉴定与每种策略相关的基因本体论（gene ontology，GO）类别及潜在候选基因。研究发现，相较于另外两种雄性策略个体，偷袭型雄性的基因表达分化水平更高。与其他雄性个体相比，偷袭型雄性的离子型谷氨酸受体基因（尤其是AMPA受体基因）表达量更高，这可能与其在试图偷配亲代雄鱼巢穴时提升空间工作记忆能力密切相关。雄性不同策略间的基因表达差异同样大于雌雄个体间的差异。本研究在若干已在其他具有ARTs的物种中被报道的候选基因中发现了显著的表达差异，并提出cAMP应答元件调节因子（cAMP-responsive element modulator，CREM）在产卵期影响亲代雄性行为中存在此前未被报道的功能。