Development of genomic resources for the prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster): construction of a BAC library and vole-mouse comparative cytogenetic map

Abstract

BackgroundThe prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) is a premier animal model for understanding the genetic and neurological basis of social behaviors. Unlike other biomedical models, prairie voles display a rich repertoire of social behaviors including the formation of long-term pair bonds and biparental care. However, due to a lack of genomic resources for this species, studies have been limited to a handful of candidate genes. To provide a substrate for future development of genomic resources for this unique model organism, we report the construction and characterization of a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library from a single male prairie vole and a prairie vole-mouse (Mus musculus) comparative cytogenetic map.ResultsWe constructed a prairie vole BAC library (CHORI-232) consisting of 194,267 recombinant clones with an average insert size of 139 kb. Hybridization-based screening of the gridded library at 19 loci established that the library has an average depth of coverage of ~10×. To obtain a small-scale sampling of the prairie vole genome, we generated 3884 BAC end-sequences totaling ~2.8 Mb. One-third of these BAC-end sequences could be mapped to unique locations in the mouse genome, thereby anchoring 1003 prairie vole BAC clones to an orthologous position in the mouse genome. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) mapping of 62 prairie vole clones with BAC-end sequences mapping to orthologous positions in the mouse genome was used to develop a first-generation genome-wide prairie vole-mouse comparative cytogenetic map. While conserved synteny was observed between this pair of rodent genomes, rearrangements between the prairie vole and mouse genomes were detected, including a minimum of five inversions and 16 inter-chromosomal rearrangements.ConclusionsThe construction of the prairie vole BAC library and the vole-mouse comparative cytogenetic map represent the first genome-wide modern genomic resources developed for this species. The BAC library will support future genomic, genetic and molecular characterization of this genome and species, and the isolation of clones of high interest to the vole research community will allow for immediate characterization of the regulatory and coding sequences of genes known to play important roles in social behaviors. In addition, these resources provide an excellent platform for future higher resolution cytogenetic mapping and full genome sequencing.

A Novel Model for Neuroendocrine Toxicology: Neurobehavioral Effects of BPA Exposure in a Prosocial Species, the Prairie Vole (Microtus ochrogaster)

“…Further work in this area is critically needed, because the concept of "adaptation" (or "resilience") is emerging as a pivotal but controversial concept in endocrine disruption toxicology (77). Voles are an ideal model for addressing this, because laboratory colonies are derived from wild caught individuals, thus preserving naturally occurring genomic and phenotypic variance (78,79). Additionally, voles have a very different life history than rats and mice, which may account for why no impacts of BPA were observed on other anxiety-assessment aspects of OF behavior.…”

A genetic linkage map and comparative mapping of the prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) genome

“…Specifically, the orthologous mouse positions of the FISH mapped BAC clones in [19] were converted from mm8 to mm9 coordinates. Both the cytogenetic and linkage markers were then sorted based on their position/order along the prairie vole chromosomes and orthologous position in the mouse genome (Additional File 2).…”

Mate Selection, Sexual Orientation, and Pair Bonding

“…390,391 A genetic linkage map and a panel of gene polymorphisms in prairie voles have been established. Genomic tools are being developed and made available to the prairie vole research community.…”