Mice (Mus musculus) lacking a vomeronasal organ can discriminate MHC-determined odortypes.
Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes in mammals (H-2 in mice) play a major role in regulating immune function. They also bestow individuality in the form of a chemical signature or odortype. At present, the respective contributions of the olfactory epithelium and the vomeronasal organ (VNO) in the recognition of individual odortypes are not well defined. We examined a possible role for the VNO in the recognition of MHC odortypes in mice by first removing the organ (VNX) and then training the mice to distinguish the odors of two congenic strains of mice that differed only in their MHC type. C57BL/6J mice (bb at H-2) and C57BL/6J-H-2(k) (kk at H-2) provided urine for sensory testing. Eight VNX and six sham-operated mice were trained to make the discrimination. Neither the number of training trials-to-criterion nor the rate of learning differed significantly for VNX and sham-operated mice. We conclude that the VNO is not necessary for learning to discriminate between MHC odortypes.
Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. wysocki@monell.org
Charles J
CJ
Wysocki
Kunio
K
Yamazaki
Maryanne
M
Curran
Linda M
LM
Wysocki
Gary K
GK
Beauchamp
D000818:Animals; D020296:Animals, Congenic / Q000276:immunology; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009812:Odorants; D009830:Olfactory Bulb / Q000502:physiology; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology; D012903:Smell / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D014556:Urine / Q000502:physiology*; D019147:Vomeronasal Organ / Q000502:physiology* / Q000601:surgery