Abstract
Wild female house mice have strong preferences for odors of male mice whose t-complex genotype is +/+ rather than for males carrying deleterious mutations (+/t) at the t complex. In this review of a large number of studies examining the basis for this preference, we suggest the following: first, preferences of +/+ females are greatly influenced by environmental factors and probably do not have a large genetic component: second, preferences of +/t females are less dependent upon environmental factors and hence may have a strong genetic component: third, the lethal factors within the t complex are involved in both the production of the cue by males and the expression of the preference in females: and fourth, there may be a second gene or genes within the t complex involved in the expression of female preference.
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Lenington, S., Egid, K. & Williams, J. Analysis of a genetic recognition system in wild house mice. Behav Genet 18, 549–564 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01065521
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01065521