Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Evaluation of the Fertility of Ecologically Different Forms of House Mice and Hybrids of the Superspecies Complex Mus musculus sensu lato (Rodentia: Muridae)

  • Published:
Biology Bulletin Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In house mice from the superspecies complex Mus musculus s. l., the relative weight of their testicles is higher and the sperm quality is better for wildliving species than for synantropic species. It is shown that this pattern is observed at an intraspecific level as well, since the testicle weight index and sperm concentration were significantly higher in the hemi-synantropic subspecies Mus musculus wagneri and M. m. gansuensis as compared to the synantropic M. m. musculus in a number of comparisons. The heritability of these indices should be considered when interpreting the results of experimental crosses in house mice.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+
from $39.99 /Month
  • Starting from 10 chapters or articles per month
  • Access and download chapters and articles from more than 300k books and 2,500 journals
  • Cancel anytime
View plans

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles and news from researchers in related subjects, suggested using machine learning.

References

  • Barnett, S.A. and Dickson, R.G., Wild mice in the cold: some findings on adaptation, Biol. Rev., 1989, vol. 64, no. 4, pp. 317–340.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boursot, P., Auffray, J.-C., Britton-Davidian, J., and Bonhomme, F., The evolution of house mice, Ann. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst., 1993, vol. 24, pp. 119–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bronson, F.H., The reproductive ecology of the house mouse, Quart. Rev. Biol., 1979, vol. 54, no. 3, pp. 265–299.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Burruel, V.R., Yanagimachi, R., and Whitten, W.K., Normal mice develop from oocytes injected with spermatozoa with grossly misshapen heads, Biol. Reprod., 1996, vol. 55, no. 3, pp. 709–714.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carlsen, M., Migrations of Mus musculus musculus in Danish farmland, Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde, 1993, vol. 58, no. 3, pp. 172–180.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cassaing, J., Interactions intra-et interspecifiques chez les sourissauvages du Midi de la France, Mus musculus domesticus et Mus spretus: consequences sur la competition entre les deux especes, Biol. Behav., 1984, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 281–293.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cassaing, J. and Croset, H., Organisation spatiale, competition et dynamique des populations sauvages de souris (Mus spretus Lataste et Mus musculus domesticus Rutty) du midi de la France, Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde, 1985, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 271–284.

    Google Scholar 

  • Florman, H.M. and Ducibella, T., Fertilization in Mammals, in Physiology of Reproduction, Neill, J.D., Ed., San Diego: Elsevier, 2006, pp. 55–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foote, R.H., Fertility estimation: a review of past experience and future prospects, Anim. Reprod. Sci., 2003, vol. 75, nos. 1–2, pp. 119–139.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Forejt, J. and Iványi, P., Genetic studies on male sterility of hybrids between laboratory and wild mice (Mus musculus L.), Genet. Res., 1974, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 189–206.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frynta, D., Slábová, M., and Vohralík, V., Why do male house mice have such small testes?, Zool. Sci., 2009, vol. 26, nos. 1–2, pp. 17–23.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Golas, A., Dzieza, A., Kuzniarz, K., and Styrna, J., Gene mapping of sperm quality parameters in recombinant inbred strains of mice, Int. J. Dev. Biol., 2008, vol. 52, nos. 2–3, pp. 287–293.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gomendio, M., Harcourt, A.H., and Roldán, E.R.S., Sperm competition in mammals, in Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection, Birkhead, T.R. and Møller, A.P., Eds., London: Academic Press, 1998, pp. 667–755.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Gomendio, M., Cassinello, J., and Roldan, E.R.S., A comparative study of ejaculate traits in three endangered ungulates with different levels of inbreeding: fluctuating asymmetry as an indicator of reproductive and genetic stress, Proc. Roy. Soc. B.: Biol. Sci., 2000, vol. 267, no. 1446, pp. 875–882.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gomendio, M., Martin-Coello, J., Crespo, C., Magana, C., and Roldan, E.R.S., Sperm competition enhances functional capacity of mammalian spermatozoa, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 2006, vol. 103, no. 5, pp. 1513–1517.

    Google Scholar 

  • Good, J.M., Handel, M.A., and Nachman, M.W., Asymmetry and polymorphism of hybrid male sterility during the early stages of speciation in house mice, Evolution, 2008, vol. 62, no. 1, pp. 50–65.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gotoh, H., Inherited sperm head abnormalities in the B10.M mouse strain, Reprod. Fertil. Dev., 2010, vol. 22, no. 7, pp. 1066–1073.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Iossa, G., Soulsbury, C.D., Baker, P.J., and Harris, S., Sperm competition and the evolution of testes size in terrestrial mammalian carnivores, Funct. Ecol., 2008, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 655–662.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kawai, Y., Hata, T., Suzuki, O., and Matsuda, J., The relationship between sperm morphology and in vitro fertilization ability in mice, J. Reprod. Dev., 2006, vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 561–568.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Korobitsina, K.B. and Yakimenko, L.V., The role and place of wagneri-like forms of the house mouse (Rodentia, Muridae) in the fauna of Russia and adjacent countries, Zool. Zh., 2004, vol. 83, no. 8, pp. 108–1090.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kot, M.C. and Handel, M.A., Binding of morphologically abnormal sperm to mouse egg zonae pellucidae in vitro, Gamete Res., 1987, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 57–66.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kotenkova, E.V. and Muntyanu, A.I., The phenomenon of synanthropy: adaptation and establishment of synanthropic lifestyle in the evolution of house mice of the superspecies complex Mus musculus s. l., Usp. Sovrem. Biol., 2007, vol. 127, no. 5, pp. 525–539.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kotenkova, E.V. and Prilutskaya, L.I., Ecological characteristics of species, in Domovaya mysh’. Proiskhozhdenie, rasprostranenie, sistematika, povedenie (House Mouse: Origin, Distribution, Taxonomy, and Behavior), Kotenkova, E.V. and Bulatova, N.Sh., Eds., Moscow: Nauka, 1994, pp. 178–185.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kucheruk, V.V., Synanthropic rodents and their significance in transmission of infection, in Theoretical Questions of Natural Foci Diseases: Proceedings of a Symposium Held in Prague, Rosicky, B. and Heyberger, K., Eds., Praque, 1965, pp. 353–366.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kucheruk, V.V., Range of the superspecies complex Mus musculus s. lato, in Domovaya mysh’. Proiskhozhdenie, rasprostranenie, sistematika, povedenie (House Mouse: Origin, Distribution, Taxonomy, and Behavior), Kotenkova, E.V. and Bulatova, N.Sh., Eds., Moscow: Nauka, 1994, pp. 56–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lavrenchenko, L.A., Systematic analysis of the superspecies complex Mus musculus s. lato, Extended Abstract of Cand. Sci. (Biol.) Dissertation, Moscow, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lavrenchenko, L.A., Kotenkova, E.V., and Bulatova, N.Sh., Experimental hybridization of house mice, in Domovaya mysh’. Proiskhozhdenie, rasprostranenie, sistematika, povedenie (House Mouse: Origin, Distribution, Taxonomy, and Behavior), Kotenkova, E.V. and Bulatova, N.Sh., Eds., Moscow: Nauka, 1994, pp. 93–109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lupold, S., Linz, G.M., Rivers, J.W., Westneat, D.F., and Birkhead, T.R., Sperm competition selects beyond relative testes size in birds, Evolution, 2009, vol. 63, no. 2, pp. 391–402.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lyalyukhina, S.I., Mikhailenko, A.G., and Kotenkova, E.V., Cadastral reference map of the range of the mound-building mouse (Mus hortulanus Nordm.) on the territory of the USSR, in Domovaya mysh’ (House Mouse), Sokolov, V.E., Kotenkova, E.V., Krasnov, B.R., and Meshkova, N.N., Eds., Moscow: Inst. Evol. Morfol. Ekol. Zhivotnykh im. A.N. Severtsova, AN SSSR, 1989, pp. 28–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malo, A.F., Garde, J.J., Soler, A.J., Garcia, A.J., Gomendio, M., and Roldan, E.R.S., Sperm velocity and the proportion of normal spermatozoa determine male fertility in natural populations of red deer, Biol. Reprod., 2005, vol. 72, no. 4, pp. 822–829.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mezhzherin, S.V. and Kotenkova, E.V., Biochemical systematics of the house mice in Central Palearctic region, J. Zool. Syst. Evol. Res., 1992, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 180–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Møller, A.P., Ejaculate quality, testes size and sperm competition in primates, J. Hum. Evol., 1988, vol. 17, no. 5, pp. 479–488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Møller, A.P., Ejaculate quality, testes size and sperm production in mammals, Funct. Ecol., 1989, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 91–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montoto, L.G., Magana, C., Tourmente, M., Martin-Coello, J., Crespo, C., Luque-Larena, J.J., Gomendio, M., and Roldan, E.R.S., Sperm competition, sperm numbers and sperm quality in muroid rodents, PLoS One, 2011, vol. 6, no. 3, p. e18173.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oka, A., Mita, A., Sakurai-Yamatani, N., Yamamoto, H., Takagi, N., Takano-Shimizu, T., Toshimori, K., Moriwaki, K., and Shiroishi, T., Hybrid breakdown caused by substitution of the X chromosome between two mouse subspecies, Genetics, 2004, vol. 166, no. 2, pp. 913–924.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Pelikán, J., Patterns of reproduction in the house mouse, Symp. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1981, vol. 47, pp. 205–229.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pogany, G.C. and Balhorn, R., Quantitative fluorometry of abnormal mouse sperm nuclei, J. Reprod. Fertil., 1992, vol. 96, no. 1, pp. 25–34.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sage, R.D., Atchley, W.R., and Capanna, E., House mice as models in systematic biology, Syst. Biol., 1993, vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 523–561.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Searle, A.G. and Beechey, C.V., Sperm-count, egg-fertilization and dominant lethality after X-irradiation of mice, Mutat. Res., 1974, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 63–72.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sludskii, A.A., Bekenov, A., Borisenko, V.A., Grachev, Yu.A., Ismagilov, M.I., Kapitonov, V.I., Strautman, E.I., Fedosenko, A.K., and Shubin, I.G., Mlekopitayushchie Kazakhstana (Mammals of Kazakhstan), Alma-Ata: Nauka KazSSR, 1977, vol. 1, part 2.

  • Sokolov, V.E., Osadchuk, A.V., and Kotenkova, E.V., Marking activity, morphometric analysis, and species specificity of sexual activity in male house and mound-building mice, Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1988, vol. 300, no. 5, pp. 1270–1273.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sokolov, V.E., Kotenkova, E.V., and Lyalyukhina, S.I., Biologiya domovoi i kurganchikovoi myshei (Biology of House and Mound-Building Mice), Moscow: Nauka, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  • Storchová, R., Gregorová, S., Buckiová, D., Kyselová, V., Divina, P., and Forejt, J., Genetic analysis of X-linked hybrid sterility in the house mouse, Mamm. Genome, 2004, vol. 15, no. 7, pp. 515–524.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tupikova, N.V., Ecology of house mouse in the temperate zone of the USSR, Fauna Ekol. Gryzunov, 1947, no. 2, pp. 5–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vinogradov, B.S., Argiropulo, A.I., and Geptner, V.G., Gryzuny Srednei Azii (Rodents of Central Asia), Moscow: Izd. AN SSSR, 1936.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vyskocilová, M., Trachtulec, Z., Forejt, J., and Pialek, J., Does geography matter in hybrid sterility in house mice?, Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 2005, vol. 84, no. 3, pp. 663–674.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yakimenko, L.V., Korobitsyna, K.V., Frisman, L.V., Morivaki, K., and Ionekava, Kh., Cytogenetics and taxonomy of house mice in Russia and adjacent countries, Probl. Evol., 2003, vol. 5, pp. 62–89.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119071, Russia

    A. N. Maltsev, A. V. Ambaryan & E. V. Kotenkova

Authors
  1. A. N. Maltsev
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. V. Ambaryan
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  3. E. V. Kotenkova
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to E. V. Kotenkova.

Additional information

Original Russian Text © A.N. Maltsev, A.V. Ambaryan, E.V. Kotenkova, 2016, published in Povolzhskii Ekologicheskii Zhurnal, 2016, No. 3, pp. 280–291.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Maltsev, A.N., Ambaryan, A.V. & Kotenkova, E.V. Evaluation of the Fertility of Ecologically Different Forms of House Mice and Hybrids of the Superspecies Complex Mus musculus sensu lato (Rodentia: Muridae). Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 44, 1257–1264 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359017100089

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359017100089

Keywords