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Comparison of Urinary Scents of Two Related Mouse Species, Mus spicilegus and Mus domesticus

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Abstract

Whereas the house mouse (Mus domesticus) has been studied extensively in terms of physiology/behavior and pheromonal attributes, the evolutionarily related mound-building mouse (Mus spicilegus) has received attention only recently due to its divergent behavioral traits related to olfaction. To date, no chemical studies on urinary volatile compounds have been performed on M. spicilegus. The rationale for our investigations was to determine if there are differences in urinary volatiles of intact and castrated M. spicilegus males and to explore further whether this species could utilize the same or structurally similar pheromones as the male house mouse, M. domesticus. The use of capillary gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) together with sorptive stir bar extraction sampling enabled quantitative comparisons between the intact and castrated M. spicilegus urinary profiles. Additionally, through GC-MS and atomic emission (sulfur-selective) detection, we identified qualitative molecular differences between intact M. spicilegus and M. domesticus. A series of volatile and odoriferous lactones and the presence of coumarin were the unique features of M. spicilegus, as was the notable absence of 2-sec-butyl-4,5-dihydrothiazole (a prominent M. domesticus male pheromone) and other sulfur-containing compounds. Castration of M. spicilegus males eliminated several substances, including δ-hexalactone and γ-octalactone, and substantially decreased additional compounds, suggesting their possible role in chemical communication. Some other M. domesticus pheromone components were also found in M. spicilegus urine. These comparative chemical analyses support the notion of metabolic similarities as well as the uniqueness of some volatiles for M. spicilegus, which may have a distinct physiological function in reproduction and behavior.

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Acknowledgments

This work was sponsored jointly by the Lilly Chemistry Alumni Chair and the Indiana University METACyt Initiative, partially funded through a grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc., as well as the French National Center for Scientific Research and the French Ministry for Higher Education and Research (University of Paris 13). We wish to thank Mr. K.E. Bruce (Institute for Pheromone Research, Indiana University) for assistance with the analyses and data collection and Professor A. Hefetz (Tel Aviv University, Israel) for comments on a previous version of the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Chemistry, Institute for Pheromone Research, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

    Helena A. Soini, Donald Wiesler, Sachiko Koyama & Milos V. Novotny

  2. Laboratoire d’Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée, Université Paris 13, 99 Avenue Jean-Baptiste Clément, 93430, Villetaneuse, France

    Christophe Féron & Claude Baudoin

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  1. Helena A. Soini
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  2. Donald Wiesler
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  6. Milos V. Novotny
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Correspondence to Milos V. Novotny.

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Soini, H.A., Wiesler, D., Koyama, S. et al. Comparison of Urinary Scents of Two Related Mouse Species, Mus spicilegus and Mus domesticus . J Chem Ecol 35, 580–589 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-009-9628-2

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