Author(s)

Gabriela Ferreira de Medeiros, Fernanda Junkes Corrêa, María Elisa Corvino, Geison de Souza Izídio, André Ramos

Laboratório de Genética do Comportamento, Departamento de Biologia Celular, Embriologia e Genética, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil.

Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) mapping has been performed during the past decades in an attempt to identify genes, gene products and mechanisms underlying numerous quantitative traits. It’s a strategy based on natural variations in genes and gene products, which facilitates translation from animal models to human clinical conditions. Our team has shown that the inbred rat strains Lewis (LEW) and Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHR) differ with respect to several emotionality- related behaviors, one of which (inner locomotion in the open field) was strongly influenced by a QTL (Anxrr16) on rat chromosome 4. Since then, several other studies not only corroborated the initial description of Anxrr16, but also extrapolated its effects to a broader context (rats from both sexes and regardless of the estrous cycle phase) and suggested that this same region influences other emotionality-related behaviors as well as alcohol intake. Other QTLs affecting neurobiological traits were also found on rat chromosome 4 and several candidate genes have been pointed out as possibly influencing those phenotypes. Altogether, these studies suggest that rat chromosome 4 constitutes an interesting target for the study of the molecular bases of anxiety and other traits related to emotional reactivity.

Rat Chromosome 4, QTL Anxrr16, Emotionality-Related Behaviors, Alcohol Consumption, Stress-Response

Medeiros, G. , Corrêa, F. , Corvino, M. , Izídio, G. and Ramos, A. (2014) The Long Way from Complex Phenotypes to Genes: The Story of Rat Chromosome 4 and Its Behavioral Effects. World Journal of Neuroscience, 4, 203-215. doi: 10.4236/wjns.2014.43024.