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Inheritance of avoidance behavior inMus musculus

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Abstract

The inheritance of avoidance behavior was studied in a population of 2204 mice (Mus musculus) consisting of the inbred strains A/HeJ, BALB/cJ, SWR/J, and 129/J, and F1 and F2 generations of all their crosses and the first generation of their backcrosses. The mode of inheritance of avoidance behavior was found to be different in the two sexes. In the males it was transmitted predominantly as an overdominant trait, whereas in the females both overdominance and partial dominance were observed. Significant nonallelic interaction was found mostly in the male data, indicating that the dominance observed in the males may be inflated.

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This research represents an extension of a thesis submitted by the first author in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the M.Sc. degree at the University of Alberta. It was supported by National Research Council of Canada grant APA-105 to J. R. Royce and partly by grant A-4413 to R. Aksel.

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Holmes, T.M., Aksel, R. & Royce, J.R. Inheritance of avoidance behavior inMus musculus . Behav Genet 4, 357–371 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01066156

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01066156

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