Parent-of-origin regulation by maternal auts2 shapes neurodevelopment and behavior in fish.

Background: Parental experience can influence progeny behavior through gamete-mediated non-genetic inheritance, that is, mechanisms that do not involve changes in inherited DNA sequence. However, underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood in vertebrates, especially for maternal effects. Here, we use the medaka, a model fish species, to investigate the role of auts2a, the ortholog of human AUTS2, a gene repressed in the fish oocyte following maternal stress and associated with neurodevelopmental disorders.

Features and Expression Are Highly Conserved during Evolution Despite Different Evolutionary Fates Following Whole Genome Duplication.

The gene plays major roles during brain development and is associated with various neuropathologies including autism. Data in non-mammalian species are scarce, and the aim of our study was to provide a comprehensive analysis of evolution in teleost fish, which are widely used for in vivo functional analysis and biomedical purposes. Comparative genomics in 78 species showed that and originate from the teleost-specific whole genome duplication (TGD).