Environmental influences on the preferences of wild female house mice for males of differing t-complex genotypes.
Twenty-five percent of wild house mice are heterozygous (+/t) for a deleterious, recessive mutation at the t complex. In previous studies we have demonstrated that wild female house mice can discriminate +/+ from +/t males and show strong preferences for the odors of males who do not carry t mutations. In the present study we examine the extent to which preferences of +/+ female mice are influenced by the genotype of their parents and or littermates. Our data indicate that when +/+ females are reared by two +/+ parents, they exhibit strong preferences for the odors of +/+ males. In contrast, when a +/+ female is reared by one +/+ and one +/t parent she shows no preference for males of either genotype. A second experiment using mice carrying recombinant chromosomes indicates that the genes responsible for the parental (or family) odor cue are not the deleterious t mutations per se but rather other genes linked to these mutations.
Lenington
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Egid
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D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000235:genetics*; D002872:Chromosome Deletion; D007446:Chromosome Inversion; D005260:Female; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice / Q000235:genetics*; D009154:Mutation; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D012931:Social Environment