title: Selection for reluctance to avoid humans during the domestication of mice.
abstract: Many animal species have been domesticated over the course of human history and became tame as a result of domestication. Tameness is a behavioral characteristic with 2 potential components: (1) reluctance to avoid humans and (2) motivation to approach humans. However, the specific behavioral characteristics selected during domestication processes remain to be clarified for many species. To quantify these 2 different components of tameness separately, we established 3 behavioral tests: the 'active tame', 'passive tame' and 'stay-on-hand' tests. We subjected genetically diverse mouse strains to these tests, including 10 wild strains (BFM/2Ms, PGN2/Ms, HMI/Ms, BLG2/Ms, NJL/Ms, KJR/Ms, SWN/Ms, CHD/Ms, MSM/Ms and CAST/Ei), a fancy strain (JF1/Ms) and 6 standard laboratory strains (C3H/HeNJcl, CBA/J, BALB/cAnNCrlCrlj, DBA/2JJcl, 129(+Ter) /SvJcl and C57BL/6JJcl). To analyze the effects of domestication, these 17 strains were divided into 2 groups: domesticated strains (fancy and laboratory strains) and wild strains. Significant differences between strains were observed in all traits, and the calculated estimates of broad-sense heritability were 0.15-0.72. These results illustrate that tameness in mice is significantly influenced by genetic background. In addition, they clearly show the differences in the features of tameness in domesticated and wild strains. Most of the domesticated strains showed significantly greater reluctance to avoid humans than wild strains, whereas there was no significant difference in the level of motivation to approach humans between these 2 groups. These results might help to clarify the genetic basis of tameness in mice.
authors.affiliation: Mouse Genomics Resource Laboratory, National Institute of Genetics, Shizuoka; Transdisciplinary Research Integration Center, Research Organization of Information and Systems, Tokyo.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tanave
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Moriwaki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shiroishi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koide
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006234:Handling, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable; D012641:Selection, Genetic
keywords: Domestication; handling test; heritability; inbred strains; tame behavior; wild mice
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Jun 16;106 Suppl 1:9971-8
references.pmid: 19528637
references.citation: Exp Anim. 2011;60(4):347-54
references.pmid: 21791874
references.citation: Behav Genet. 2001 Jan;31(1):79-91
references.pmid: 11529277
references.citation: J Hered. 1979 Sep-Oct;70(5):301-8
references.pmid: 528781
references.citation: Brain Res Bull. 2002 Jan 1;57(1):49-55
references.pmid: 11827737
references.citation: Mamm Genome. 2000 Aug;11(8):664-70
references.pmid: 10920237
references.citation: J Appl Physiol (1985). 2010 Sep;109(3):623-34
references.pmid: 20538847
references.citation: Heredity (Edinb). 2011 Sep;107(3):205-14
references.pmid: 21304545
references.citation: Genetics. 2006 Oct;174(2):959-84
references.pmid: 16888333
references.citation: Mamm Genome. 1998 Jan;9(1):15-9
references.pmid: 9434939
references.citation: Physiol Genomics. 2004 Nov 17;19(3):270-6
references.pmid: 15383638
references.citation: J Comp Psychol. 1997 Dec;111(4):419-23
references.pmid: 9419886
references.citation: Genes Brain Behav. 2005 Jun;4(4):209-28
references.pmid: 15924554
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 2000 Dec;71(5):509-16
references.pmid: 11239669
references.citation: J Appl Physiol (1985). 2005 Apr;98(4):1258-63
references.pmid: 15542571
references.citation: PLoS One. 2011;6(7):e22093
references.pmid: 21818297
references.citation: J Med Res. 1916 Jan;33(3):393-453
references.pmid: 19972275
references.citation: Folia Biol (Praha). 2000;46(1):31-41
references.pmid: 10730880
references.citation: Genetics. 2009 Jun;182(2):541-54
references.pmid: 19363126
references.citation: J Comp Psychol. 1987 Dec;101(4):390-4
references.pmid: 3691061
references.citation: Behav Genet. 2004 Nov;34(6):621-30
references.pmid: 15520518
references.citation: Genetics. 2012 Feb;190(2):437-47
references.pmid: 22345611
references.citation: J Med Res. 1915 Jul;32(3):331-360.1
references.pmid: 19972238
references.citation: Exp Anim. 2012;61(5):503-9
references.pmid: 23095813
references.citation: Horm Behav. 2008 Mar;53(3):413-21
references.pmid: 18177873
references.citation: Exp Anim. 2009 Apr;58(2):123-34
references.pmid: 19448335
references.citation: Genes Brain Behav. 2003 Apr;2(2):71-9
references.pmid: 12884964
references.citation: Behav Genet. 2006 Sep;36(5):763-74
references.pmid: 16402282
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Apr;80(8):2290-4
references.pmid: 6300907