In humans, morphological abnormalities often are accompanied by certain behaviors (anxiety, placidity, etc.) that can have social implications, particularly in conjunction with the morphological change. The animal model proposed here examines the effects of behavioral change on morphology and will be used to analyze the genetic regulation of these complex phenotypes. A collaborative project between the Institute for Cytology and Genetics (ICG) in Novosibirsk, Russia and the Department of Biology at the University of Utah, in Salt Lake City Utah is described. This collaborative project explores the genetic basis for morphological changes that have occurred during selection for behavioral traits in the process of domesticating the silver fox (V. vulpes). The project exploits a novel resource, two fox populations - one tame the other aggressive - that have been established in Novosibirsk, Russia. The two populations were established using only behavioral selection criteria in the breeding program. Nevertheless, morphological variation accompanied the behavioral changes. Thus, the Silver Fox populations present a unique resource for analysis of interactions between behavior and functional morphology. In this project, molecular genetic markers developed for analysis of the dog (C. familiaris) will be used to identify Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs) for behavior and morphology in the silver fox. Using backcross populations, loci for behavior and morphology will be identified and co-segregation of these loci will be sought. Preliminary investigations have shown that: a) canine markers can be used in the silver fox; b) heritable morphological variation exists within and between the fox populations; (c) that heritable behavioral variation also exists between the fox populations; and (d) simulations predict sufficient statistical power to identify the genetic loci sought. Specific haplotypes will be compared between the fox and dog, using the sequence of the dog genome to establish linkage to common markers. Ultimately comparison with the human and mouse genome sequences will establish other mammalian syntenic relationships. A program for increasing research capacity at the ICG is described, whereby technology for analyzing genotypes using DNA markers (Simple Sequence Repeats) will be transferred to ICG. Additionally, novel statistical computational tools will be introduced together with the working use of computational packages for genome analysis. Senior researchers at ICG have been identified to implement the transfer of these molecular and computational technologies. Although these techniques will be applied initially to the project described here, it is foreseen that they will be used in a number of other programs at the Russian institute.
