Genetic association with boldness and maternal performance in a free-ranging population of grey seals (Halichoerus grypus)

Individual variation in quantitative traits clearly influence many ecological and evolutionary processes. Moderate to high heritability estimates of personality and life-history traits suggest some level of genetic control over these traits. Yet, we know very little of the underlying genetic architecture of phenotypic variation in the wild. In this study, we used a candidate gene approach to investigate the association of genetic variants with repeated measures of boldness and maternal performance traits (weaning mass and lactation duration) collected over an 11- and 28-year period, respectively, in a free-ranging population of grey seals on Sable Island National Park Reserve, Canada. We isolated and re-sequenced five genes: dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4), serotonin transporter (SERT), oxytocin receptor (OXTR), and melanocortin receptors 1 (MC1R) and 5 (MC5R). We discovered single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in each gene; and, after accounting for loci in linkage disequilibrium and filtering due to missing data, we were able to test for genotype-phenotype relationships at seven loci in three genes (DRD4, SERT, and MC1R). We tested for association between these loci and traits of 180 females having extreme shy-bold phenotypes using mixed-effects models. One locus within SERT was significantly associated with boldness (effect size = 0.189) and a second locus within DRD4 with weaning mass (effect size = 0.232). Altogether, genotypes explained 6.52–13.66% of total trait variation. Our study substantiates SERT and DRD4 as important determinants of behaviour, and provides unique insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying maternal performance variation in a marine predator.