Cell and Structural Biology, Neuroscience and Bioengineering, Beckman Institute, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois 61801, USA
Address for correspondence: David F. Clayton, Cell & Structural Biology, Neuroscience and Bioengineering, Beckman Institute, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA. Voice: 217-244-3668; fax: 217-244-1640.
dclayton{at}uiuc.edu;
http://www.life.uiuc.edu/clayton/default.html
Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1016: 45-60 (2004).
The biology of songbirds poses fundamental questions about the
interplay between gene, brain, and behavior. New tools of genomic
analysis will be invaluable in pursuing answers to these questions.
This review begins with a summary of the broad properties of
the songbird genome and how songbird brain gene expression has
been measured in past studies. Four key problems in songbird
biology are then considered from a genomics perspective: What
role does differential gene expression play in the development,
maintenance, and functional organization of the song control
circuit? Does gene regulation set boundaries on the process
of juvenile song learning? What is the purpose of song-induced
gene activity in the adult brain? How does the genome underlie
the profound sexual differentiation of the song control circuit?
Finally, the range of genomic technologies currently or soon
to be available to songbird researchers is briefly reviewed.
These technologies include online databases of expressed genes
("expressed sequence tags" or ESTs); a complete library of the
zebra finch genome maintained as a bacterial artificial chromosome
(BAC) library; DNA microarrays for simultaneous measurement
of many genes in a single experiment; and techniques for gene
manipulation in the organism. Collectively, these questions
and techniques define the field of songbird neurogenomics.
