Fighting fish synchronize their combat moves and their gene expression
Betta fish opponents undergo similar brain changes that become more synchronized after longer fights

Date:
June 17, 2020
Source:
PLOS
Summary:
When two betta fish are fighting for dominance, not only do their
attacks mirror each other, but the gene expression in their brain
cells also starts to align. The new findings may explain how the
fish synchronize their fighting behavior.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
When two betta fish are fighting for dominance, not only do their attacks mirror each other, but the gene expression in their brain cells also
starts to align. The new findings, published June 17th in PLOS Genetics
by Norihiro Okada of Kitasato University, Japan, may explain how the
fish synchronize their fighting behavior.


==========================================================================
The fighting fish Betta splendens is famous for its aggression, but
opponents typically stop fighting after assessing the other's abilities
to avoid any serious injuries. The small freshwater fish is commonly
used to study aggression in the lab, and it employs a handful of standard tactics like mouth- locking, bites, strikes and swimming to the surface
to gulp air. In the new study, researchers observed that during a fight,
two male opponents modify their actions to match the aggressive behavior
of the other, leading to tightly synchronized battles. Furthermore, when
the researchers analyzed the brains of both opponents, they observed
that the fish also synchronized which genes were turned on or off in
brain cells. The fighting pair had similar changes in gene activity
related to learning, memory, synapse function and ion transport across
cell membranes. The synchronization was specific to a fighting pair and
became stronger after fighting for an hour compared to a 20-minute fight, suggesting that the degree of synchronization was driven by fighting interactions.

The new study takes a neurogenomic approach to the old question of how
animals synchronize their behavior. Similar mirrored behaviors also occur during mating, foraging and cooperative hunting, and these behaviors may
also trigger synchronized brain changes in the pairs of animals. "One
of my future plans is to elucidate what happens in the male-female
interaction of fish on the molecular level," said author Norihiro Okada.

The findings suggest that even though the betta fish are fighting each
other, sometimes to the death, their brains may be cooperating at the
molecular level.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by PLOS. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Trieu-Duc Vu, Yuki Iwasaki, Shuji Shigenobu, Akiko Maruko, Kenshiro
Oshima, Erica Iioka, Chao-Li Huang, Takashi Abe, Satoshi Tamaki,
Yi-Wen Lin, Chih-Kuan Chen, Mei-Yeh Lu, Masaru Hojo, Hao-Ven Wang,
Shun-Fen Tzeng, Hao-Jen Huang, Akio Kanai, Takashi Gojobori,
Tzen-Yuh Chiang, H.

Sunny Sun, Wen-Hsiung Li, Norihiro Okada. Behavioral and brain-
transcriptomic synchronization between the two opponents of a
fighting pair of the fish Betta splendens. PLOS Genetics, 2020;
16 (6): e1008831 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1008831 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200617150022.htm

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