Abstract
Populations of mice established outdoors as well as indoors have been investigated at 24 loci using starch gel electrophoresis. Two reproductively isolated groups are recognized, one of which is referable to a house mouse subspecies, Mus musculus brevirostris, and the other to a different species, Mus spretus, contrary to the view of Schwarz and Schwarz that only one species of Mus is present in the Mediterranean Basin. The genetic distance between these two groups is larger than between any pair of investigated subspecies of M. musculus. M. m. brevirostris is biochemically almost indistinguishable from M. m. domesticus. On the other hand, M. spretus exhibits several allelic variants unknown or at most very infrequent in M. musculus, as for instance at the lactate dehydrogenase B-chain locus.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Britton, J., Pasteur, N., and Thaler, L. (1976). Les souris du Midi de la France: Distinction biochimique de deux groupes de populations sympatriques. Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. Paris 283515.
Chapman, V. M. (1975). 6-Phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (PGD) genetics in the mouse: Linkage with metabolically related enzyme loci. Biochem. Genet. 13849.
Darviche, D., Michaux, J., and Thaler, L. (1978). Caractérisation morphologique et biométrique de Mus musculus L. et Mus spretus Lataste dans le Midi de la France. Mammalia (Paris) (in press).
de Lorenzo, R. J., and Ruddle, F. H. (1970). Glutamate-oxalate-transaminase (GOT) genetics in Mus musculus: Linkage, polymorphism, and phenotypes of the Got-2 and Got-1 loci. Biochem. Genet. 4259.
Ellerman, J. R. (1941). The Families and Genera of Living Rodents, British Museum, London, 690 pp.
Ellerman, J. R., and Morrison-Scott, T. C. S. (1951). Checklist of Palearctic and Indian Mammals, British Museum, London, 810 pp.
Henderson, N. S. (1965). Isozymes of isocitrate dehydrogenase: Subunit structure and intracellular location. J. Exp. Zool. 158263.
Henderson, N. S. (1966). Isozymes and genetic control of NADP-malate dehydrogenase in mice. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 11728.
Henderson, N. S. (1968). Intracellular location and genetic control of isozymes of NADP-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase and malate dehydrogenase. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 151429.
Lataste, F. (1883). Note sur les souris d'Algérie. Act. Linn. Soc. (Bordeaux) 3727.
Lewontin, R. C. (1967). An estimate of average heyerozygosity in man. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 19681.
Lewontin, R. C., and Hubby, J. L. (1966). A molecular approach to the study of genic heterozygosity in natural populations. II. Amount of variation and degree of heterozygosity in natural populations of Drosophila pseudoobscura. Genetics 54595.
Miller, G. S. (1912). Catalogue of Mammals of Western Europe, British Museum, London, 1019 pp.
Nei, M. (1972). Genetic distance between populations. Am. Nat. 106283.
Petras, M. L. (1963). Genetic control of a serum esterase component in Mus musculus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 50112.
Petras, M. L. (1972). An inherited albumin variant in the house mouse, Mus musculus. Biochem. Genet. 7273.
Petras, M. L., and Biddle, F. G. (1967). Serum esterases in the house mouse, Mus musculus. Can. J. Genet. Cytol. 9704.
Petras, M. L., and Martin, J. E. (1969). Improved electrophoretic resolution of some hemoglobin variants in Mus musculus. Biochem. Genet. 3303.
Popp, R. A. (1963). Hbb loci: Mice classified for their Hbb and Sol allele. Science 140893.
Popp, R. A. (1966). Inheritance of an erythrocyte and kidney esterase in the mouse. J. Hered. 57197.
Ruddle, F. H., Shows, T. B., and Roderick, T. H. (1967). Autosomal control of an electrophoretic variant of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in the mouse (Mus musculus). Genetics 58599.
Ruddle, F. H., Shows, T. B., and Roderick, T. H. (1969). Esterase genetics in Mus musculus: Expression, linkage and polymorphism of locus Es-2. Genetics 62393.
Saint-Girons, M.-C. (1973). Les Mammifères de France et du Bénélux, Doin, Paris, 481 pp.
Schwarz, E., and Schwarz, H. K. (1943). The wild and commensal stocks of the house mouse, Mus musculus. J. Mammal. 2459.
Selander, R. K. (1976). Genic variation in natural populations. In Ayala, F. J. (ed.), Molecular Evolution, Sinauer, Sunderland, Mass, 277 pp.
Selander, R. K., Hunt, W. G., and Yang, S. Y. (1969). Protein polymorphism and genic heterozygosity in two European subspecies of the house mouse (Mus musculus). Evolution 23379.
Selander, R. K., Smith, M. H., Yang, S. Y., Johnson, W. E., and Gentry, J. B. (1971). IV. Biochemical polymorphism and systematics in the genus Peromyscus. I. Variation in the old-field mouse (Peromyscus polionotus). Studies in Genetics, Univ. Texas Publ. 7103.
Shows, T. B., and Ruddle, F. H. (1968). Function of the lactate dehydrogenase B gene in mouse erythrocytes: Evidence for control by a regulatory gene. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 61574.
Shows, T. B., Chapman, V. M., and Ruddle, F. H. (1970). Mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase and malic enzyme: Mendelian inherited electrophoretic variants in the mouse. Biochem. Genet. 8707.
Thomas, O. (1896). On a wild living mouse of the Mus musculus group in Portugal. Zoologist 20137.
Wheeler, L. L., and Selander, R. K. (1972). XIII. Genetic variation in populations of the house mouse, Mus musculus in the Hawaiian Islands. Studies in Genetics VII, Univ. Texas Publ. 7213.
Zimmerman, K. (1949). Zur Kenntnis der mitteleuropäischen Hausmäuse. Zool. Jahr. 78301.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This work was supported by research grants from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (E.R.A. No. 261) and the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Britton, J., Thaler, L. Evidence for the presence of two sympatric species of mice (genus Mus L.) in southern France based on biochemical genetics. Biochem Genet 16, 213–225 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00484079
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00484079