Abstract
Twenty-five percent of wild house mice are heterozygous (+/t) for a deleterious, recessive mutation at the t complex. In previous studies we have demonstrated that wild female house mice can discriminate +/+ from +/t males and show strong preferences for the odors of males who do not carry t mutations. In the present study we examine the extent to which preferences of +/+ female mice are influenced by the genotype of their parents and or littermates. Our data indicate that when +/+ females are reared by two +/+ parents, they exhibit strong preferences for the odors of +/+ males. In contrast, when a +/+ female is reared by one +/+ and one +/t parent she shows no preference for males of either genotype. A second experiment using mice carrying recombinant chromosomes indicates that the genes responsible for the parental (or family) odor cue are not the deleterious t mutations per se but rather other genes linked to these mutations.
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This work was funded by a grant from the Research Council of Rutgers University.
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Lenington, S., Egid, K. Environmental influences on the preferences of wild female house mice for males of differing t-complex genotypes. Behav Genet 19, 257–266 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01065909
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01065909