Data from: Social environment influences the relationship between genotype and gene expression in wild baboons

Variation in the social environment can have profound effects on survival and reproduction in wild social mammals. However, we know little about the degree to which these effects are influenced by genetic differences among individuals, and conversely, the degree to which social environmental variation mediates genetic reaction norms. To better understand these relationships, we investigated the potential for dominance rank, social connectedness and group size to modify the effects of genetic variation on gene expression in the wild baboons of the Amboseli basin. We found evidence for a number of gene–environment interactions (GEIs) associated with variation in the social environment, encompassing social environments experienced in adulthood as well as persistent effects of early life social environment. Social connectedness, maternal dominance rank and group size all interacted with genotype to influence gene expression in at least one sex, and either in early life or in adulthood. These results suggest that social and behavioural variation, akin to other factors such as age and sex, can impact the genotype–phenotype relationship. We conclude that GEIs mediated by the social environment are important in the evolution and maintenance of individual differences in wild social mammals, including individual differences in responses to social stressors.

社会环境的变异可对野生群居哺乳动物的生存与繁殖产生深远影响。然而，目前我们对个体间遗传差异对这些效应的影响程度知之甚少，反之，对于社会环境变异如何介导遗传反应规范的程度也同样缺乏了解。为深入厘清这些关联机制，本研究以安博塞利盆地的野生狒狒为研究对象，探究了优势等级、社会联结度与群体规模对遗传变异调控基因表达过程的潜在影响。本研究发现了多项与社会环境变异相关的基因-环境交互作用（gene–environment interactions, GEIs）证据，其涵盖范围既包括成年期所处的社会环境，也包括早期生命社会环境所产生的持续性效应。研究结果显示，社会联结度、母系优势等级与群体规模均与基因型发生交互作用，进而在至少一种性别、至少一个生命阶段（早期或成年期）影响基因表达。上述结果表明，社会与行为变异与年龄、性别等其他因素类似，均可对基因型-表型关联产生调控作用。本研究最终得出结论：由社会环境介导的基因-环境交互作用，对于野生群居哺乳动物个体差异（包括对社会应激源的响应差异）的演化与维持具有重要意义。