Temporal profile of brain gene expression associated with learning in an anuran amphibian

Reported here are the transcriptomic changes resulting from learning, in the brain of an anuran amphibian. RNA sequencing was utilized to investigate temporal gene expression patterns resulting from conditioned learning in the fire-bellied toad, Bombina orientalis. As a basal tetrapod lineage, B. orientalis represents a robust candidate for investigating the evolution of molecular mechanisms underlying learning in vertebrates. Differential expression following learning reveled activity in molecular pathways related to immediate early gene expression, cytoskeletal modification, axon guidance activity, and apoptotic processes. Learning in the fire-bellied toad is characterized by early IEG activity coinciding with transcriptional activity and structural modification, followed by axon guidance and adhesion activity, and late neural pruning. Experiment consisted of three treatments + control with three replicates each. Treatments represent post-training sacrifice timing (2 hours, 4 hours, and 24 hours), with an unmanipulated control. n=12.