Guest researcher: Behavioral syndromes in salmonid fish-Ecological and evolutionary implications

The project concerns a guest researcher that will add valued competence to an already running NFR financed research project. the candidate, working at the level of a psot-doctoral fellow, will in turn receive valuable training in behavioral analysis and m olecular biology. Scientifically, the project will study the proximate and ultimate mechanisms behind individual variation in the physiological stress response. Such variation has been correlated to a number of major axes of variation in behavior, includi ng activity, shyness-boldness, and aggression. Sih and co-workers recently coined the term behavioral syndromes for this henomenon, and pointed out several important ecological and evolutionary implications. In the current project we aim to address the oc currence, fitness consequences, and molecular genetic mechanisms behind behavioral syndromes in a salmonid fish model system. The candidate for this scholarship will take part in a comprehensive research program on the molecular and genetic mechanisms beh ind individual variation in behaviour, with particular focus on variation in stress sensitivity. Previous research has shown that selection for stress responsiveness alters both behavioral strategies and neuroendocrine and cognitive processes. It is argu ed that understanding the mechanisms behind individual variation in stress responsiveness will encompass both strong scientific interest and relevance to society. Contrast populations of rainbow trout will be scanned for the occurrence of polymorphisms in selected candidate genes involved in the stress response and behavioral control. Regional- and allele-specific gene expression in brain and interrenal tissue will be analyzed using high-throughput rcPCR in combination with a brain punch microdissection t echnique.