title: Distribution of the C1473G polymorphism in tryptophan hydroxylase 2 gene in laboratory and wild mice.
abstract: The neurotransmitter serotonin is implicated in the regulation of various forms of behavior, including aggression, sexual behavior and stress response. The rate of brain serotonin synthesis is determined by the activity of neuronal-specific enzyme tryptophan hydroxylase 2. The missense C1473G substitution in mouse tryptophan hydroxylase 2 gene has been shown to lower the enzyme activity and brain serotonin level. Here, the C1473G polymorphism was investigated in 84 common laboratory inbred strains, 39 inbred and semi-inbred strains derived from wild ancestors (mostly from Eurasia) and in 75 wild mice trapped in different locations in Russia and Armenia. Among all the classical inbred strains studied, only substrains of BALB/c, A and DBA, as well as the IITES/Nga and NZW/NSlc strains were homozygous for the 1473G allele. In contrast to laboratory strains, the 1473G allele was not present in any of the samples from wild and wild-derived mice, although the wild mice varied substantially in the C1477T neutral substitution closely linked to the C1473G polymorphism. According to these results, the frequency of the 1473G allele in natural populations does not exceed 0.5%, and the C1473G polymorphism is in fact a rare mutation that is possibly eliminated by the forces of natural selection.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia.
authors.forename: D V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Osipova
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Kulikov
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mekada
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yoshiki
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Moshkin
authors.forename: E V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Kotenkova
authors.forename: N K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Popova
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000235:genetics; D005787:Gene Frequency / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D051189:Murinae / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D014365:Tryptophan Hydroxylase / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C487802:Tph2 protein, mouse; D014365:Tryptophan Hydroxylase