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The dynamic of the t-haplotype in wild populations of the house mouse Mus musculus domesticus in Israel

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Abstract

The t-haplotype, a variant of the proximal part of the mouse chromosome 17, is composed of at least four inversions and is inherited as a single genetic unit. The haplotype causes embryonic mortality or male sterility when homozygous. Genes within the complex are responsible for distortion of Mendelian transmission ratio in males. Thus, the t-haplotype in heterozygous males is transferred to over 95% of the progeny. We examined the dynamic and behavior of the t-haplotype in wild populations of the house mouse in Israel. The Israeli populations show high frequency (15%–20%) of both partial and complete t-carrying mice, supporting the suggestion that the t-complex evolved in the M. domesticus line in the Israeli region. In one population that had the highest frequency of t-carrying individuals, we compared the level of gene diversity between t-carrying and normal mice in the marker’s loci: H-2 locus of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) on the t-haplotype of chromosome 17, three microsatellites on other chromosomes, and the mitochondrial D-loop. Genetic variability was high in all tested loci in both t and (+) mice. All t mice carried the same chromosome and showed the same H-2 haplotype. While t-carrying mice showed significant H-2 heterozygotes access, (+) mice expressed significant H-2 heterozygote deficiency. There were no differences in the level of gene diversity between t and (+) mice in the other loci. Heterozygosity level at the MHC may be an additional factor in the selective forces balancing the t-haplotype polymorphism.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Alona Nave for technical assistance and Jan Klein, Department of Immunogenetics, Max Planck Institute, Tubingen, Germany, for kindly providing them the genetic marker probes. The authors also thank the anonymous referees whose helpful suggestions contributed significantly to this study. This work was supported by a grant from the Israel Science Foundation to SL and a grant from the Israel Science Foundation (556/93) to UR.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Haifa – Oranim, Tivon, 36006, Israel

    Rachel Ben-Shlomo

  2. Department of Genetics, The Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 91904, Israel

    Esther Neufeld, Dov Berger & Uzi Ritte

  3. Mirabel Medical, Austin, Texas, 78759, USA

    Sarah Lenington

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  1. Rachel Ben-Shlomo
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  2. Esther Neufeld
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  3. Dov Berger
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  4. Sarah Lenington
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  5. Uzi Ritte
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Correspondence to Rachel Ben-Shlomo.

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Ben-Shlomo, R., Neufeld, E., Berger, D. et al. The dynamic of the t-haplotype in wild populations of the house mouse Mus musculus domesticus in Israel. Mamm Genome 18, 164–172 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00335-007-9001-0

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