Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted descending) Filter |
|---|
| developmental constraints revealed by co-variation within and among molar rows in two murine rodents. | morphological integration corresponds to interdependency between characters that can arise from several causes. proximal causes of integration include that different phenotypic features may share common genetic sets and/or interact during their development. ultimate causes may be the prolonged effect of selection favoring integration of functionally interacting characters, achieved by the molding of these proximal causes. strong and direct interactions among successive teeth of a molar row are p ... | 2009 | 19754715 |
| molecular insights into the colonization and chromosomal diversification of madeiran house mice. | the colonization history of madeiran house mice was investigated by analysing the complete mitochondrial (mt) d-loop sequences of 156 mice from the island of madeira and mainland portugal, extending on previous studies. the numbers of mtdna haplotypes from madeira and mainland portugal were substantially increased (17 and 14 new haplotypes respectively), and phylogenetic analysis confirmed the previously reported link between the madeiran archipelago and northern europe. sequence analysis reveal ... | 2009 | 19754514 |
| evolution of duplicated beta-globin genes and the structural basis of hemoglobin isoform differentiation in mus. | the functional diversification of multigene families may be strongly influenced by mechanisms of concerted evolution such as interparalog gene conversion. the beta-globin gene family of house mice (genus mus) represents an especially promising system for evaluating the effects of gene conversion on the functional divergence of duplicated genes. whereas the majority of mammalian species possess tandemly duplicated copies of the adult beta-globin gene that are identical in sequence, natural popula ... | 2009 | 19675095 |
| locomotor trade-offs in mice selectively bred for high voluntary wheel running. | we investigated sprint performance and running economy of a unique ;mini-muscle' phenotype that evolved in response to selection for high voluntary wheel running in laboratory mice (mus domesticus). mice from four replicate selected (s) lines run nearly three times as far per day as four control lines. the mini-muscle phenotype, resulting from an initially rare autosomal recessive allele, has been favoured by the selection protocol, becoming fixed in one of the two s lines in which it occurred. ... | 2009 | 19648406 |
| sexual selection and the rodent baculum: an intraspecific study in the house mouse (mus musculus domesticus). | the rapid divergence of genitalia is a pervasive trend in animal evolution, thought to be due to the action of sexual selection. to test predictions from the sexual selection hypothesis, we here report data on the allometry, variation, plasticity and condition dependence of baculum morphology in the house mouse (mus musculus domesticus). we find that that baculum size: (a) exhibits no consistent pattern of allometric scaling (baculum size being in most cases unrelated to body size), (b) exhibits ... | 2010 | 19597945 |
| mandible shape in hybrid mice. | hybridisation between closely related species is frequently seen as retarding evolutionary divergence and can also promote it by creating novel phenotypes due to new genetic combinations and developmental interactions. we therefore investigated how hybridisation affects the shape of the mouse mandible, a well-known feature in evo-devo studies. parental groups corresponded to two strains of the european mouse sub-species mus musculus domesticus and mus musculus musculus. parents and hybrids were ... | 2009 | 19504055 |
| effects of aging on mouse tongue epithelium focusing on cell proliferation rate and morphological aspects. | the aim of this study was to investigate cell proliferation rate and certain morphological features of mouse epithelium as aging progresses. tongue biopsies were performed on female mice (mus domesticus domesticus) at 2, 8, 14 and 20 months of age as indicative of adolescence, adulthood, early senescence and senescence, respectively. histological sections of tongue were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and subjected to silver staining for active nucleolar organizer region counting. cell proliferat ... | 2008 | 19420881 |
| proteomics and comparative genomic investigations reveal heterogeneity in evolutionary rate of male reproductive proteins in mice (mus domesticus). | male reproductive fitness is strongly affected by seminal fluid. in addition to interacting with the female environment, seminal fluid mediates important physiological characteristics of sperm, including capacitation and motility. in mammals, the male reproductive tract shows a striking degree of compartmentalization, with at least six distinct tissue types contributing material that is combined with sperm in an ejaculate. although studies of whole ejaculates have been undertaken in some species ... | 2009 | 19420050 |
| population-based discovery of toxicogenomics biomarkers for hepatotoxicity using a laboratory strain diversity panel. | toxicogenomic studies are increasingly used to uncover potential biomarkers of adverse health events, enrich chemical risk assessment, and to facilitate proper identification and treatment of persons susceptible to toxicity. current approaches to biomarker discovery through gene expression profiling usually utilize a single or few strains of rodents, limiting the ability to detect biomarkers that may represent the wide range of toxicity responses typically observed in genetically heterogeneous h ... | 2009 | 19420014 |
| comparison of urinary scents of two related mouse species, mus spicilegus and mus domesticus. | 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 a ... | 2009 | 19390894 |
| receiving behaviour is sensitive to risks from eavesdropping predators. | conspicuous signals may attract both intended receivers as well as unintended receivers such as predators. however, signalling individuals are not the only ones at risk when communicating, as the intended receiver may encounter eavesdropping predators that are attracted to the same signals. here, we show that the house mouse (mus domesticus) behaviourally responds to social signals (scents) as though receiving carries a risk of predation. we presented mice with their own scents (low social benef ... | 2009 | 19363623 |
| efficient production of androgenetic embryos by round spermatid injection. | mammalian androgenetic embryos can be produced by pronuclear exchange of fertilized oocytes or by dispermic in vitro fertilization of enucleated oocytes. here, we report a new technique for producing mouse androgenetic embryos by injection of two round spermatid nuclei into oocytes, followed by female chromosome removal. we found that injection of round spermatids resulted in high rates of oocyte survival (88%). androgenetic embryos thus produced developed into mid-gestation fetuses at various r ... | 2009 | 19241381 |
| lines of mice with chronically elevated baseline corticosterone levels are more susceptible to a parasitic nematode infection. | chronically elevated circulating plasma glucocorticoid concentrations can have suppressive effects on immune function in mammals. house mice (mus domesticus) that have been selectively bred for high voluntary wheel running exhibit chronically elevated (two-fold, on average) plasma corticosterone (cort) levels and hence are an interesting model to study possible glucocorticoid-induced immune suppression. as an initial test of their immunocompetence, we compared the four replicate high runner (hr) ... | 2009 | 19223159 |
| quantitative variation of line-1 sequences in five species and three subspecies of the subgenus mus and in five robertsonian races of mus musculus domesticus. | the quantitative variation of a conserved region of the line-1 orf2 sequence was determined in eight species and subspecies of the subgenus mus (m. m. domesticus, m. m. musculus, m. m. castaneus, m. spicilegus, m. spretus, m. cervicolor, m. cookii, m. caroli) and five robertsonian races of m. m. domesticus. no differences in line-1 orf2 content were found between all acrocentric or robertsonian chromosome races, whereas the quantitative variation of the line-1 orf2 sequences detected among the e ... | 2009 | 19184476 |
| reduction of type iib myosin and iib fibers in tibialis anterior muscle of mini-muscle mice from high-activity lines. | selective breeding of laboratory house mice (mus domesticus) for high voluntary wheel running has generated four replicate lines that show an almost threefold increase in daily wheel-running distances as compared with four nonselected control lines. an unusual hindlimb "mini-muscle" phenotype (small muscles, increased mitochondrial enzyme levels, disorganized fiber distribution) has increased in frequency in two of the four replicate selected lines. the gene of major effect that accounts for thi ... | 2009 | 19177556 |
| effects of parity on pelvic size and shape dimorphism in mus. | the pelvis is a sexually dimorphic structure and although the causes of that dimorphism have long been studied, relatively little is known regarding the effects of partuitive events on the magnitude of that dimorphism. here, we use a sample of mus musculus domesticus to contrast dimorphism in body length and os coxae size and shape between males and parous and nulliparous females. we also test for correlations between relative litter size (l/m) and relative offspring size (o/m) with body length ... | 2009 | 19123249 |
| polymorphism in hybrid male sterility in wild-derived mus musculus musculus strains on proximal chromosome 17. | the hybrid sterility-1 (hst1) locus at chr 17 causes male sterility in crosses between the house mouse subspecies mus musculus domesticus (mmd) and m. m. musculus (mmm). this locus has been defined by its polymorphic variants in two laboratory strains (mmd genome) when mated to pwd/ph mice (mmm genome): c57bl/10 (carrying the sterile allele) and c3h (fertile allele). the occurrence of sterile and/or fertile (wild mmm x c57bl)f1 males is evidence that polymorphism for this trait also exists in na ... | 2009 | 19123034 |
| inferring the history of speciation in house mice from autosomal, x-linked, y-linked and mitochondrial genes. | patterns of genetic differentiation among taxa at early stages of divergence provide an opportunity to make inferences about the history of speciation. here, we conduct a survey of dna-sequence polymorphism and divergence at loci on the autosomes, x chromosome, y chromosome and mitochondrial dna in samples of mus domesticus, m. musculus and m. castaneus. we analyzed our data under a divergence with gene flow model and estimate that the effective population size of m. castaneus is 200,000-400,000 ... | 2008 | 19121002 |
| glycogen storage and muscle glucose transporters (glut-4) of mice selectively bred for high voluntary wheel running. | to examine the evolution of endurance-exercise behaviour, we have selectively bred four replicate lines of laboratory mice (mus domesticus) for high voluntary wheel running (;high runner' or hr lines), while also maintaining four non-selected control (c) lines. by generation 16, hr mice ran approximately 2.7-fold more than c mice, mainly by running faster (especially in females), a differential maintained through subsequent generations, suggesting an evolutionary limit of unknown origin. we hypo ... | 2009 | 19112143 |
| selection on cis-regulatory variation at b4galnt2 and its influence on von willebrand factor in house mice. | the riiis/j inbred mouse strain is a model for type 1 von willebrand disease (vwd), a common human bleeding disorder. low von willebrand factor (vwf) levels in riiis/j are due to a regulatory mutation, mvwf1, which directs a tissue-specific switch in expression of a glycosyltransferase, b4galnt2, from intestine to blood vessel. we recently found that mvwf1 lies on a founder allele common among laboratory mouse strains. to investigate the evolutionary forces operating at b4galnt2, we conducted a ... | 2009 | 19088380 |
| inference of historical changes in migration rate from the lengths of migrant tracts. | after migrant chromosomes enter a population, they are progressively sliced into smaller pieces by recombination. therefore, the length distribution of "migrant tracts" (chromosome segments with recent migrant ancestry) contains information about historical patterns of migration. here we introduce a theoretical framework describing the migrant tract length distribution and propose a likelihood inference method to test demographic hypotheses and estimate parameters related to a historical change ... | 2009 | 19087958 |
| consensus multivariate methods in gas chromatography mass spectrometry and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis: mhc-congenic and other strains of mice can be classified according to the profiles of volatiles and microflora in their scent-marks. | house mice (mus domesticus) communicate using scent-marks, and the chemical and microbial composition of these 'extended phenotypes' are both influenced by genetics. this study examined how the genes of the major histocompatibility complex (mhc) and background genes influence the volatile compounds (analysed with gas chromatography mass spectrometry or gc/ms) and microbial communities (analysed using denaturating gradient gel electrophoresis or dgge) in scent-marks produced by congenic strains o ... | 2009 | 19082183 |
| vitamin k epoxide reductase complex subunit 1 (vkorc1) haplotype diversity in mouse priority strains. | abstract: | 2008 | 19046458 |
| dissecting the effects of mtdna variations on complex traits using mouse conplastic strains. | previous reports have demonstrated that the mtdna of mouse common inbred strains (cis) originated from a single female ancestor and that mtdna mutations occurred during cis establishment. this situation provides a unique opportunity to investigate the impact of individual mtdna variations on complex traits in mammals. in this study, we compiled the complete mtdna sequences of 52 mouse cis. phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that 50 of the 52 cis descended from a single female mus musculus domest ... | 2009 | 19037013 |
| adaptive plasticity of mammalian sperm production in response to social experience. | sperm competition theory predicts that males should invest prudently in ejaculates according to levels of female promiscuity. males may therefore be sensitive to cues in their social environment associated with sexual competition, and tailor investment in sperm production accordingly. we tested this idea experimentally for the first time, to our knowledge, in a mammal by comparing reproductive traits of male house mice (mus musculus domesticus) that had experienced contrasting encounter regimes ... | 2009 | 18986975 |
| mendelian inheritance of t haplotypes in house mouse ( mus musculus domesticus) field populations. | alleles of many genes in the house mouse (mus musculus domesticus) t complex influence embryonic development, male transmission ratio, male fertility and other traits. homozygous t lethal alleles cause prenatal lethality, whereas male t semilethal homozygotes and males heterozygous for two complementing t lethal haplotypes are sterile. without a mechanism maintaining these deleterious genes, t lethals and t semilethals should be eliminated by selection. the mechanism for maintaining them is tran ... | 2008 | 18840307 |
| of mice and (viking?) men: phylogeography of british and irish house mice. | the west european subspecies of house mouse (mus musculus domesticus) has gained much of its current widespread distribution through commensalism with humans. this means that the phylogeography of m. m. domesticus should reflect patterns of human movements. we studied restriction fragment length polymorphism (rflp) and dna sequence variations in mouse mitochondrial (mt) dna throughout the british isles (328 mice from 105 localities, including previously published data). there is a major mtdna li ... | 2009 | 18826939 |
| the diverse origins of new zealand house mice. | molecular markers and morphological characters can help infer the colonization history of organisms. a combination of mitochondrial (mt) d-loop dna sequences, nuclear dna data, external measurements and skull characteristics shows that house mice (mus musculus) in new zealand and its outlying islands are descended from very diverse sources. the predominant genome is mus musculus domesticus (from western europe), but mus musculus musculus (from central europe) and mus musculus castaneus (from sou ... | 2009 | 18826937 |
| identification of selective sweeps in closely related populations of the house mouse based on microsatellite scans. | genome scans of polymorphisms promise to provide insights into the patterns and frequencies of positive selection under natural conditions. the use of microsatellites as markers has the potential to focus on very recent events, since in contrast to snps, their high mutation rates should remove signatures of older events. we assess this concept here in a large-scale study. we have analyzed two population pairs of the house mouse, one pair of the subspecies mus musculus domesticus and the other of ... | 2008 | 18791245 |
| signalling components of the house mouse mate recognition system. | subspecies-specific mate recognition may represent significant barrier to gene flow between diverged genomes potentially leading to speciation. in the house mouse, assortative mating involves the coevolution of several signals and receptors. we compared signalling ability of bedding material, faeces, urine, saliva, salivary androgen binding proteins (abp) and combinations of urine with saliva and urine with abp in mate choice in two wild-derived inbred strains (one of mus musculus musculus and o ... | 2009 | 18790024 |
| faster fertilization rate in conspecific versus heterospecific matings in house mice. | barriers to gene flow can arise at any stage in the reproductive sequence. most studies of reproductive isolation focus on premating or postzygotic phenotypes, leaving the importance of differences in fertilization rate overlooked. two closely related species of house mice, mus domesticus and m. musculus, form a narrow hybrid zone in europe, suggesting that one or more isolating factors operate in the face of ongoing gene flow. here, we test for differences in fertilization rate using laboratory ... | 2009 | 18752610 |
| does the house mouse self-regulate its density in maturing sorghum and wheat crops? | 1. one of the central questions in population ecology and management is: what regulates population growth? house mouse mus domesticus l. populations erupt occasionally in grain-growing regions in australia. this study aimed to determine whether mouse populations are self-regulated in maturing sorghum and wheat crops. this was assessed by examining food supply to mice (i.e. yield) and the relationship between initial mouse density (d(i)) and density at harvest (d(h)). eight levels of d(i) ranging ... | 2008 | 18624745 |
| the urban house mouse (mus domesticus) as a reservoir of infection for the human parasite toxoplasma gondii: an unrecognised public health issue? | toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite capable of infecting almost all warm-blooded animals. the cat is the definitive host and becomes infected by consuming contaminated meat or infected prey. humans can act as intermediate hosts and in healthy individuals the infection is mild and self-limiting. in pregnant women it can cause spontaneous abortions and foetal abnormalities and is capable of inducing serious illness in immuno-compromised patients. in infested dwellings, mice could act as inte ... | 2008 | 18569146 |
| dynamic instability of the major urinary protein gene family revealed by genomic and phenotypic comparisons between c57 and 129 strain mice. | the major urinary proteins (mups) of mus musculus domesticus are deposited in urine in large quantities, where they bind and release pheromones and also provide an individual 'recognition signal' via their phenotypic polymorphism. whilst important information about mup functionality has been gained in recent years, the gene cluster is poorly studied in terms of structure, genic polymorphism and evolution. | 2008 | 18507838 |
| the mitochondrial genome sequence of mus terricolor: comparison with mus musculus domesticus and implications for xenomitochondrial mouse modeling. | knowledge of the mitochondrial dna (mtdna) sequence of divergent murine species is critical from both a phylogenetic perspective and in understanding nuclear-mitochondrial interactions, particularly as the latter influences our xenocybrid models of mitochondrial disease. to this end, the sequence of the mitochondrial genome of the murine species mus terricolor (formerly mus dunni) is reported and compared with the published sequence for the common laboratory mouse mus musculus domesticus strain ... | 2008 | 18501533 |
| there is no heterotic effect upon developmental stability in the ventral side of the skull within the house mouse hybrid zone. | fluctuating asymmetry (fa) of a body is expected to be related to an organism's developmental instability. we studied patterns of fa in the ventral side of the skull along a transect across the central-european portion of the hybrid zone between two house mouse subspecies, mus musculus musculus and mus musculus domesticus. we found that fa was not significantly different between introgression classes relative to differences between localities within those classes and that the within-class differ ... | 2008 | 18462319 |
| the chromosome 11 region from strain 129 provides protection from sex reversal in xypos mice. | c57bl/6j (b6) mice containing the mus domesticus poschiavinus y chromosome, ypos, develop ovarian tissue, whereas testicular tissue develops in dba/2j or 129s1/svimj (129) mice containing the ypos chromosome. to identify genes involved in sex determination, we used a congenic strain approach to determine which chromosomal regions from 129sl/svimj provide protection against sex reversal in xypos mice of the c57bl/6j.129-ypos strain. genome scans using microsatellite and snp markers identified a c ... | 2008 | 18458101 |
| basal metabolic rate of aged mice is affected by random genetic drift but not by selective breeding for high early-age locomotor activity or chronic wheel access. | the study of correlated evolution can lead to new insights about the inheritance patterns of complex traits. in order to better understand the evolution of metabolic rate, we tested whether voluntary activity levels and basal metabolic rate are genetically correlated in 90-wk-old mice (mus domesticus) from replicated lines of the sixteenth generation of an artificial selection experiment for high early-age wheel-running activity. we measured basal rates of oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide p ... | 2008 | 18419555 |
| cranial bone morphometric study among mouse strains. | little is known about the molecular mechanism which regulates how the whole cranium is shaped. mouse models currently available for genetic research include several hundreds of unique inbred strains and genetically engineered mutants. by cross comparing their genomic structures, we can elucidate the cause of any differences in the phenotype between two strains. the craniometry of subspecies, or closely related species, of mice provide a good systemic model to study the relationship between genet ... | 2008 | 18307817 |
| mouse inter-subspecific consomic strains for genetic dissection of quantitative complex traits. | consomic strains, also known as chromosome substitution strains, are powerful tools for assigning polygenes that control quantitative complex traits to specific chromosomes. here, we report generation of a full set of mouse consomic strains, in which each chromosome of the common laboratory strain c57bl/6j (b6) is replaced by its counterpart from the inbred strain msm/ms, which is derived from japanese wild mouse, mus musculus molossinus. the genome sequence of msm/ms is divergent from that of b ... | 2008 | 18256237 |
| adaptive evolution of the insulin two-gene system in mouse. | insulin genes in mouse and rat compose a two-gene system in which ins1 was retroposed from the partially processed mrna of ins2. when ins1 originated and how it was retained in genomes still remain interesting problems. in this study, we used genomic approaches to detect insulin gene copy number variation in rodent species and investigated evolutionary forces acting on both ins1 and ins2. we characterized the phylogenetic distribution of the new insulin gene (ins1) by southern analyses and confi ... | 2008 | 18245324 |
| rb(7.17), a rare robertsonian fusion in wild populations of the house mouse. | robertsonian (rb) translocation is the largest source of chromosomal diversity in the western european house mouse (mus musculus domesticus). recently, the fusion rb(7.17) was found in the chromosomal polymorphic zone of this subspecies in the north-east of the iberian peninsula. this fusion has not been reported in any other european population. here we give data on the distribution and frequency of this mutation in this region. results revealed that rb(7.17) is restricted to a small geographic ... | 2007 | 18208626 |
| reproductive isolation between chromosomal races of the house mouse mus musculus domesticus in a parapatric contact area revealed by an analysis of multiple unlinked loci. | the house mouse, mus musculus domesticus, exhibits a high level of chromosomal polymorphism because of the occurrence and fast fixation of robertsonian fusions between telocentric chromosomes. for this reason, it has been considered a classical speciation model to analyse the role of the chromosomal changes in reproductive isolation. in this study, we analysed a parapatric contact area between two metacentric races in central italy, the cittaducale race (cd: 2n = 22) and the ancarano race (acr: ... | 2008 | 18205781 |
| eye morphology in some wild rodents. | the eye anatomy of six rodent species (murinae: apodemus sylvaticus, mus domesticus, and mus spretus; arvicolinae: clethrionomys glareolus, arvicola terrestris and microtus arvalis) was compared by means of light or electron microscopy to determine adaptive, and evolutive signals. our observations revealed inter-specific morphological differences, which were moderate among representatives of the same subfamily. specifically, traits that distinguished murines from arvicolines were the globe's rel ... | 2008 | 18197899 |
| phylogeography and postglacial expansion of mus musculus domesticus inferred from mitochondrial dna coalescent, from iran to europe. | few genetic data document the postglacial history of the western house mouse, mus musculus domesticus. we address this by studying a sample from the southeastern tip of the fertile crescent in the iranian province of ahvaz. including other published and unpublished data from france, germany, italy, bulgaria, turkey and other places in iran, altogether 321 mitochondrial d-loop sequences are simultaneously analysed. the patterns of coalescence obtained corroborate the classical proposal according ... | 2008 | 18179435 |
| nucleotide variation in wild and inbred mice. | the house mouse is a well-established model organism, particularly for studying the genetics of complex traits. however, most studies of mice use classical inbred strains, whose genomes derive from multiple species. relatively little is known about the distribution of genetic variation among these species or how variation among strains relates to variation in the wild. we sequenced intronic regions of five x-linked loci in large samples of wild mus domesticus and m. musculus, and we found low le ... | 2007 | 18073432 |
| aggressive and mating behaviors in two types of sex reversed mice: xy females and xx males. | aggressive and mating behaviors were assessed in xx females, xy females, and xy males of the c57bl/6/j/ei ("c57bl/6" or "b6") strain of mouse. the y chromosome of the xy females derives from mus domesticus poschiavinus and the y chromosome of the xy males derives from mus musculus. the poschiavinus y in the c57bl/6 background results in xy mice with either ovaries or ovotestes. only those with ovaries were tested. these xy females appear to be endocrinologically identical to xx females. aggressi ... | 2008 | 18064553 |
| measurement of the digit lengths and the anogenital distance in mice. | in humans, research has demonstrated the ratio of the 2nd to 4th digit lengths (2d:4d) are: (i) sexually dimorphic with males having a lower ratio than females, the latter having near equidistant lengths [j. manning, d. scutt, j. wilson, & d. lewis-jones, (1998). the ratio of 2nd to 4th digit length: a predictor of sperm numbers and concentrations of testosterone, luteinizing hormone and oestrogen. hum reprod. 13(11):3000-3004], and are theorized to be (ii) determined in utero during gestational ... | 2008 | 18054055 |
| [behavior of argentine lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus strains in rodents]. | the activity of lcm virus was first reported in argentina at the beginning of the seventies and only five strains have been isolated from rodents mus domesticus and two from humans. the objective of this paper was to find differential biological characteristics of argentine strains of lcm virus comparing them in relation to the historical strains we and armstrong. regarding the results obtained in tissue culture, when l 929 cells were used, plaque forming units (pfu) were obtained with human and ... | 2007 | 18051229 |
| genome-wide patterns of gene flow across a house mouse hybrid zone. | hybrid zones between closely related species or subspecies provide useful settings for studying the genetic architecture of speciation. using markers distributed throughout the mouse genome, we use a hybrid zone between two recently diverged species of house mice (mus musculus and mus domesticus) as a natural mapping experiment to identify genomic regions that may be involved in reproductive isolation. using cline analysis we document a nearly 50-fold variation in level of introgression among ma ... | 2008 | 18025268 |
| the genetic basis of inbreeding avoidance in house mice. | animals might be able to use highly polymorphic genetic markers to recognize very close relatives and avoid inbreeding. the major histocompatibility complex (mhc) is thought to provide such a marker because it influences individual scent in a broad range of vertebrates. however, direct evidence is very limited. in house mice (mus musculus domesticus), the major urinary protein (mup) gene cluster provides another highly polymorphic scent signal of genetic identity that could underlie kin recognit ... | 2007 | 17997307 |
| risk of accidental invasion and expansion of allochthonous mice in tokyo metropolitan coastal areas in japan. | house mouse (mus musculus) is one of the perilous animal vectors for imported zoonosis such as a lymphocytic choriomeningitis (lcmv) infectious disease, and probably unknown emerging and/or re-emerging infectious diseases as well. it is necessary to prevent such diseases by regular surveys for behavioral trends of these allochthonous mice. however, such a trial has never been attempted in japan. from 1998 to 2002, we analyzed partial sequences of the d-loop region in mtdna, which provides powerf ... | 2007 | 17991997 |
| preimplantation embryo development (ped) gene copy number varies from 0 to 85 in a population of wild mice identified as mus musculus domesticus. | the preimplantation embryo development (ped) gene regulates the rate of preimplantation embryonic cleavage division and subsequent embryo survival. in the mouse, the ped gene product is qa-2 protein, a nonclassical mhc class i molecule encoded by four tandem genes, q6/q7/q8/q9. most inbred strains of mice have all four genes on each allelic chromosome, making a total of eight qa-2 encoding genes, but there are a few strains that are missing all eight genes, defining a null allele. mouse strains ... | 2007 | 17990033 |
| prevalence of mouse mammary tumor virus (mmtv) in wild house mice (mus musculis) in southeastern australia. | we determined the prevalence of mouse mammary tumor virus (mmtv) in introduced, free-roaming, wild house mice (mus musculus domesticus) [corrected] and compared envelope (env) and long terminal repeat (ltr) nucleotide sequences of viruses from wild mice and other sources. mice were trapped on two occasions, in october (spring) and the following may (autumn) of 2003-2004 in the mallee region of northwestern victoria, australia. animals were assigned to three cohorts (subadult, young, and old adul ... | 2007 | 17984262 |
| development of unique house mouse resources suitable for evolutionary studies of speciation. | two house mouse subspecies, mus musculus domesticus and mus musculus musculus, form a hybrid zone in europe and represent a suitable model for inferring the genes contributing to isolation barriers between parental taxa. despite long-term intensive studies of this hybrid zone, we still know relatively little about the causes and mechanisms maintaining the 2 taxa as separate subspecies; therefore, to gain insight into this process, we developed 8 wild-derived inbred house mouse strains. in order ... | 2008 | 17965200 |
| genetic resistance to infection influences a male's sexual attractiveness and modulation of testosterone. | females may be attracted to males genetically resistant to infectious diseases, and one potential mechanism for this mating bias is that such males may be better able to maintain high testosterone. to test these two hypotheses, we collected scent-marks from male house mice (mus domesticus) genetically resistant and susceptible to salmonella due to a single locus (nramp 1, also known as slc11a1). we tested whether females are more attracted to the scent-marks of resistant males, and whether such ... | 2008 | 17945466 |
| novel cryptosporidium genotype in wild australian mice (mus domesticus). | a total of 250 mouse fecal specimens collected from crop farms in queensland, australia, were screened for the presence of cryptosporidium spp. using pcr. of these, 19 positives were detected and characterized at a number of loci, including the 18s rrna gene, the acetyl coenzyme a gene, and the actin gene. sequence and phylogenetic analyses identified two genotypes: mouse genotype i and a novel genotype (mouse genotype ii), which is likely to be a valid species. cryptosporidium parvum, which is ... | 2007 | 17921267 |
| gonadal expression of aromatase and estrogen receptor alpha genes in two races of tunisian mice and their hypofertile hybrids. | house mice (mus musculus domesticus) in tunisia consists of two races, one carries the 40-acrocentric standard karyotypes and the other one is a robertsonian race (2n=22) homozygous for nine centric fusions (rb). the f1 hybrids between the two chromosomal races showed a significant decrease in reproductive success and litter size. such results can be related to the formation of meiotic trivalent in the hybrids leading to the production of viable aneuploid gametes and post-zygotic elimination of ... | 2007 | 17873965 |
| tick-borne zoonotic bacteria in wild and domestic small mammals in northern spain. | the prevalence and diversity of tick-borne zoonotic bacteria (borrelia spp., anaplasma phagocytophilum, coxiella burnetii, and spotted fever group rickettsiae) infecting 253 small mammals captured in the basque country (spain) were assessed using pcr and reverse line blot hybridization. trapping sites were selected around sheep farms (study 1, 2000 to 2002) and recreational parks (study 2, 2003 to 2005). the majority of the studied mammals (162) were wood mice (apodemus sylvaticus), but six othe ... | 2007 | 17693556 |
| a new chromosomal race of the house mouse, mus musculus domesticus, in the vulcano island-aeolian archipelago, italy. | in this paper we describe a new robertsonian (rb) race of the house mouse from vulcano (aeolian archipelago) through the identification of the metacentric chromosomes. we analysed fifteen mice. all the specimens were found to have the same karyotype 2n=26. this karyotype is characterized by rb(1.2), rb(3.9), rb(4.13), rb(5.14), rb(8.12), rb(10.16) and rb(15.17). the differences between the race of vulcano and the races in a neighbour island (lipari) consist in the presence of rb(10.16) and rb(15 ... | 2007 | 17663698 |
| on the subspecific origin of the laboratory mouse. | the genome of the laboratory mouse is thought to be a mosaic of regions with distinct subspecific origins. we have developed a high-resolution map of the origin of the laboratory mouse by generating 25,400 phylogenetic trees at 100-kb intervals spanning the genome. on average, 92% of the genome is of mus musculus domesticus origin, and the distribution of diversity is markedly nonrandom among the chromosomes. there are large regions of extremely low diversity, which represent blind spots for stu ... | 2007 | 17660819 |
| intra-female aggression in the mouse (mus musculus domesticus) is linked to the estrous cycle regularity but not to ovulation. | intraspecific communication between mice takes place mainly via urinary chemosignals or "pheromones". pheromones can influence aggressive and reproductive behavior as well as the neuroendocrine condition of the recipient female mice via their olfactory system. in this study, reproductively cyclic mice in the estrus phase were used to test intraspecific agonistic aggressive behavior. data were obtained also on the count of the eggs shed in the oviducts. the results showed that (i) individually ho ... | 2008 | 17647257 |
| developmental exposure to low-dose estrogenic endocrine disruptors alters sex differences in exploration and emotional responses in mice. | estrogenic endocrine disruptors (eeds) are naturally occurring or man-made compounds present in the environment that are able to bind to estrogen receptors and interfere with normal cellular development in target organs and tissues. there is mounting evidence that eeds can interfere with the processes of sexual differentiation of brain and behavior in different animal models. we investigated the effects of maternal exposure to eeds, at concentrations within the range of human exposure and not pa ... | 2007 | 17568585 |
| centimorgan-range one-step mapping of fertility traits using interspecific recombinant congenic mice. | in mammals, male fertility is a quantitative feature determined by numerous genes. until now, several wide chromosomal regions involved in fertility have been defined by genetic mapping approaches; unfortunately, the underlying genes are very difficult to identify. here, 53 interspecific recombinant congenic mouse strains (ircss) bearing 1-2% seg/pas (mus spretus) genomic fragments disseminated in a c57bl/6j (mus domesticus) background were used to systematically analyze male fertility parameter ... | 2007 | 17483418 |
| serological survey of virus infection among wild house mice (mus domesticus) in the uk. | the serological prevalence of 13 murine viruses was surveyed among 103 wild-caught and 51 captive-bred house mice (mus domesticus), originating from several trapping locations in northwest england, using blood samples obtained during routine health screening of an established wild mouse colony. a high proportion of recently caught wild mice were seropositive for mouse hepatitis virus (86%), mouse cytomegalovirus (79%), mouse thymic virus (78%), mouse adenovirus (68%), mouse parvovirus (59%) and ... | 2007 | 17430622 |
| reproducibility of a hemi mandible positioning device and a method for measuring alveolar bone loss area in mice. | the objective of this study was to determine the reproducibility of a positioning device and a method for measuring the area of alveolar bone loss (abl) in hemi mandibles of mice. mucoperiosteal flaps were raised in cf1 mus domesticus mice (n = 10) on the buccal aspects of the left side of the mandibles. twenty-one days after surgery, the animals were sacrificed, and the mandibles were resected and stained with 1% toluidine blue. two positioning devices, one for the buccal and the other for ling ... | 2007 | 17429177 |
| the dynamic of the t-haplotype in wild populations of the house mouse mus musculus domesticus in israel. | the t-haplotype, a variant of the proximal part of the mouse chromosome 17, is composed of at least four inversions and is inherited as a single genetic unit. the haplotype causes embryonic mortality or male sterility when homozygous. genes within the complex are responsible for distortion of mendelian transmission ratio in males. thus, the t-haplotype in heterozygous males is transferred to over 95% of the progeny. we examined the dynamic and behavior of the t-haplotype in wild populations of t ... | 2007 | 17415614 |
| kidney function in the spinifex hopping mouse, notomys alexis. | notomys alexis (spinifex hopping mouse) is found in the arid zone of australia. the structure and function of the kidneys allow this species to conserve water. this study investigated the rate at which n. alexis can reduce urine volume and increase the concentration of electrolytes and solutes when water deprived. it also looked at the response to rehydration, following a period of water deprivation. the laboratory mouse, mus musculus domesticus, was used for comparison. n. alexis is able to red ... | 2008 | 17374563 |
| species-specific expression of major urinary proteins in the house mice (mus musculus musculus and mus musculus domesticus). | the analysis of expression of pheromone-carrying major urinary proteins (mups) from two subspecies of house mice (mus m. musculus, mus m. domesticus) was studied. it has been previously shown that commensal populations of the two subspecies can discriminate on the basis of urinary signals. mups are predominant urinary proteins that protect pheromones from rapid degradation in a hydrophilic environment, and individuals of m. m. musculus tend to rely on these urinary cues in the process of subspec ... | 2007 | 17333372 |
| mtdna phylogeny and evolution of laboratory mouse strains. | inbred mouse strains have been maintained for more than 100 years, and they are thought to be a mixture of four different mouse subspecies. although genealogies have been established, female inbred mouse phylogenies remain unexplored. by a phylogenetic analysis of newly generated complete mitochondrial dna sequence data in 16 strains, we show here that all common inbred strains descend from the same mus musculus domesticus female wild ancestor, and suggest that they present a different mitochond ... | 2007 | 17284675 |
| characterization and comparison of major urinary proteins from the house mouse, mus musculus domesticus, and the aboriginal mouse, mus macedonicus. | urine from the house mouse, mus musculus domesticus, contains a high concentration of major urinary proteins (mups), which convey olfactory information between conspecifics. in wild populations, each individual expresses a different pattern of around 8 to 14 electrophoretically separable mup isoforms. to examine whether other mus species express mups and exhibit a similar level of individual heterogeneity, we characterized urinary proteins in urine samples from an aboriginal species, mus macedon ... | 2007 | 17268823 |
| searching the genomes of inbred mouse strains for incompatibilities that reproductively isolate their wild relatives. | identification of the genes that underlie reproductive isolation provides important insights into the process of speciation. according to the dobzhansky-muller model, these genes suffer disrupted interactions in hybrids due to independent divergence in separate populations. in hybrid populations, natural selection acts to remove the deleterious heterospecific combinations that cause these functional disruptions. when selection is strong, this process can maintain multilocus associations, primari ... | 2007 | 17208932 |
| disruption of genetic interaction between two autosomal regions and the x chromosome causes reproductive isolation between mouse strains derived from different subspecies. | reproductive isolation that initiates speciation is likely caused by incompatibility among multiple loci in organisms belonging to genetically diverging populations. laboratory c57bl/6j mice, which predominantly originated from mus musculus domesticus, and a msm/ms strain derived from japanese wild mice (m. m. molossinus, genetically close to m. m. musculus) are reproductively isolated. their f1 hybrids are fertile, but successive intercrosses result in sterility. a consomic strain, c57bl/6j-chr ... | 2007 | 17057240 |
| the frequency of multiple paternity suggests that sperm competition is common in house mice (mus domesticus). | sexual selection is an important force driving the evolution of morphological and genetic traits. to determine the importance of male-male, postcopulatory sexual selection in natural populations of house mice, we estimated the frequency of multiple paternity, defined as the frequency with which a pregnant female carried a litter fertilized by more than one male. by genotyping eight microsatellite markers from 1095 mice, we found evidence of multiple paternity from 33 of 143. evidence for multipl ... | 2006 | 17054508 |
| rescue of the mouse ddk syndrome by parent-of-origin-dependent modifiers. | when females of the ddk inbred mouse strain are mated to males of other strains, 90-100% of the resulting embryos die during early embryonic development. this ddk syndrome lethality results from incompatibility between an ooplasmic ddk factor and a non-ddk paternal gene, which map to closely linked loci on chromosome 11. it has been proposed that the expression of the gene that encodes the ooplasmic factor is subject to allelic exclusion in oocytes. previous studies have demonstrated the existen ... | 2007 | 17050856 |
| heterogeneity of the coumarin anticoagulant targeted vitamin k epoxide reduction system. study of kinetic parameters in susceptible and resistant mice (mus musculus domesticus). | vitamin k epoxide reductase (vkor) activity in liver microsomes from a susceptible and a genetically warfarin-resistant strain of mice (mus musculus domesticus) was analyzed to determine the mechanism of resistance to this 4-hydroxycoumarin derivative. kinetic parameters for vkor were calculated for each strain by incubating liver microsomes with vitamin k epoxide +/- warfarin. in susceptible mice, an eadie-hofstee plot of the data was not linear and suggested the involvement of at least two dif ... | 2006 | 17009238 |
| innate antiviral resistance influences the efficacy of a recombinant murine cytomegalovirus immunocontraceptive vaccine. | recombinant betaherpesviruses are attractive vaccine candidates because of their persistence in the host. a recombinant murine cytomegalovirus expressing the mouse ovarian glycoprotein zona pellucida 3 induces long lasting sterility in female balb/c mice. using inbred mouse strains selected for their innate resistance or susceptibility to mcmv, we show that genetically determined innate resistance to mcmv can reduce immunocontraceptive success. the cmv1 locus that controls natural killer cell me ... | 2007 | 17007971 |
| the evolution of aging and age-related physical decline in mice selectively bred for high voluntary exercise. | we tested whether selective breeding for early-age high voluntary exercise behavior over 16 generations caused the evolution of lifelong exercise behavior, life expectancy, and age-specific mortality in house mice (mus domesticus). sixteenth-generation mice from four replicate selection lines and four replicate random-bred control lines were individually housed from weaning through death and divided between two activity treatments (either with or without running wheels). thus, there were four tr ... | 2006 | 16929666 |
| a change of expression in the conserved signaling gene mkk7 is associated with a selective sweep in the western house mouse mus musculus domesticus. | changes in gene expression are known to occur between closely related species, but it is not yet clear how many of these are due to random fixation of allelic variants or due to adaptive events. in a microarray survey between subspecies of the mus musculus complex, we identified the mitogen-activated protein-kinase-kinase mkk7 as a candidate for change in gene expression. quantitative pcr experiments with multiple individuals from each subspecies confirmed a specific and significant up-regulatio ... | 2006 | 16910979 |
| longitudinal diffusion of a polar tracer in the outer segments of rod photoreceptors from different species. | vertebrate rod photoreceptors are the ultimate light sensors, as they can detect a single photon. in darkness, rods maintain a high concentration of the intracellular messenger cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cgmp), which binds to and keeps open cationic channels on the plasma membrane of the outer segment. absorption of a photon by the visual pigment of the rod, rhodopsin, initiates a biochemical amplification cascade that leads to a reduction in the concentration of cgmp and closure of the cha ... | 2006 | 16906792 |
| wild mouse open field behavior is embedded within the multidimensional data space spanned by laboratory inbred strains. | the vast majority of studies on mouse behavior are performed on laboratory mouse strains (mus laboratorius), while studies of wild-mouse behavior are relatively rare. an interesting question is the relationship between the phenotypes of m. laboratorius and the phenotypes of their wild ancestors. it is commonly believed, often in the absence of hard evidence, that the behavior of wild mice exceeds by far, in terms of repertoire richness, magnitude of variables and variability of behavioral measur ... | 2006 | 16879632 |
| artificial selection for increased maternal defense behavior in mice. | maternal aggression is directed towards intruders by lactating females and is critical for defense of offspring. within-family selection for increased maternal defense in outbred house mice (mus domesticus; hsd:icr strain) was applied to one selected (s) line, using total duration of attacks in a 3-min test as the selection criterion. one control (c) line was maintained and both lines were propagated by 13 families in each generation. prior to selection, heritability of maternal aggression was e ... | 2006 | 16676225 |
| self-regulation within outbreak populations of feral house mice: a test of alternative models. | 1. outbreaks of feral house mice, mus domesticus, in australia represent a fundamental failure of the behavioural control mechanisms of population density, as proposed in the hypothesis of self-regulation. 2. mice have the potential to keep numbers in check via a suite of spacing behaviours; however, the self-regulation hypothesis implies that some social change occurs that permits the population to erupt. it also suggests that at different phases of an outbreak, distinct patterns of social acti ... | 2006 | 16638011 |
| rate of metabolism during lactation in small terrestrial mammals (crocidura russula, mus domesticus and microtus arvalis). | basal rate of metabolism (bmr) and resting maternal rate of metabolism around peak lactation (rmr(l)) were measured in crocidura russula, mus domesticus and microtus arvalis. these species have a moderate or high bmr relative to the scaling relationship of kleiber. one goal of the study was to check whether females of these species show elevated rates of metabolism during lactation. a second goal was to test for a possible intraspecific correlation between the level of bmr and the change in rate ... | 2006 | 16630734 |
| mixed infection with multiple strains of murine cytomegalovirus occurs following simultaneous or sequential infection of immunocompetent mice. | as with human cytomegalovirus (hcmv) infection of humans, murine cmv (mcmv) infection is widespread in its natural host, the house mouse mus domesticus, and may consist of mixed infection with different cmv isolates. the incidence and mechanisms by which mixed infection occurs in free-living mice are unknown. this study used two approaches to determine whether mixed infection with mcmv could be established in laboratory mice. the first utilized two naturally occurring mcmv strains, n1 and g4, in ... | 2006 | 16603512 |
| developmental exposure to environmental estrogens alters anxiety and spatial memory in female mice. | humans and wildlife are exposed to numerous anthropogenic drugs and pollutants. many of these compounds are hormonally active, and recent evidence suggests that the presence of these endocrine disruptors permanently alters normal development and physiology in a variety of vertebrate species. here, we report on the effects of developmental exposure to two common estrogenic pollutants, bisphenol a and ethinyl estradiol on sexually dimorphic, non-reproductive behavior. mice (mus musculus domesticus ... | 2006 | 16540110 |
| selenium-binding protein 2, the major hepatic target for acetaminophen, shows sex differences in protein abundance. | liver samples from female and male mice of two subspecies, mus musculus musculus and mus musculus domesticus, were investigated by a combination of 2-de and maldi-ms. the image analysis of the generated 2-de patterns revealed several protein spots with significant differences in intensity/abundance between the sexes. seven protein spots, which were prominent in 2-de patterns of male mice, but which showed very low intensities in females, were identified as selenium-binding protein 2 (sbp2) also ... | 2006 | 16532517 |
| developmental regulation of skull morphology ii: ontogenetic dynamics of covariance. | canalization may play a critical role in molding patterns of integration when variability is regulated by the balance between processes that generate and remove variation. under these conditions, the interaction among those processes may produce a dynamic structure of integration even when the level of variability is constant. to determine whether the constancy of variance in skull shape throughout most of postnatal growth results from a balance between processes generating and removing variatio ... | 2006 | 16409382 |
| the prevalence of neospora caninum and co-infection with toxoplasma gondii by pcr analysis in naturally occurring mammal populations. | neospora caninum and toxoplasma gondii are closely related intracellular protozoan parasites associated with bovine and ovine abortion respectively. little is known about the extent of neospora/toxoplasma co-infection in naturally infected populations of animals. using nested pcr techniques, based on primers from the nc5 region of n. caninum and sag1 for t. gondii, the prevalence of n. caninum and its co-infection with t. gondii were investigated in populations of mus domesticus, rattus norvegic ... | 2006 | 16393351 |
| genetic engineering of mice to test the oxidative damage theory of aging. | the laboratory mouse mus musculus domesticus provides the best current mammalian models for the genetic analysis of aging. we give a brief overview of the use of transgenic manipulations to test the oxidative damage theory of aging. these manipulations are of two types: the first approach engineers mice that exhibit increased sensitivities to oxidative damage and thus produces mice that are likely to be short-lived. the second approach engineers mice to be more resistant to such injuries, and th ... | 2005 | 16387715 |
| effects of size, sex, and voluntary running speeds on costs of locomotion in lines of laboratory mice selectively bred for high wheel-running activity. | selective breeding for over 35 generations has led to four replicate (s) lines of laboratory house mice (mus domesticus) that run voluntarily on wheels about 170% more than four random-bred control (c) lines. we tested whether s lines have evolved higher running performance by increasing running economy (i.e., decreasing energy spent per unit of distance) as a correlated response to selection, using a recently developed method that allows for nearly continuous measurements of oxygen consumption ... | 2006 | 16380930 |
| regional variations in the distributions of small intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (iels) in outbred laboratory mice (mus musculus domesticus) and the inbred strain of mice established from japanese fancy mice (mus musculus molossinus). | previously, we reported regional variations in small intestinal iels of mice. in this study, we examined the regional variations of iels in outbred laboratory mice (ddy: mus musculus domesticus) and the inbred strain of mice established from japanese fancy mice (jf1: mus musculus molossinus). iels were isolated from the proximal, middle and distal parts of the small intestine and analyzed by flow cytometry. the percentages of gammadelta t cells and alphabeta t cell subset of extrathymic origin w ... | 2006 | 16373077 |
| asymmetrical reproductive character displacement in the house mouse. | our study addressed reproductive character displacement between two subspecies of the house mouse, mus musculus musculus and mus musculus domesticus that hybridize in europe along a zone where selection against hybridization is known to occur. based on a multi-population approach, we investigated spatial patterns of divergence of mate preference in the two taxa. mate preference was significantly higher in the contact zone than in allopatry in both subspecies, suggesting that reproductive charact ... | 2005 | 16313461 |
| alveolar bone loss and aging: a model for the study in mice. | several animal studies have shown a positive correlation between aging and alveolar bone loss (abl). the purpose of this study was to develop a model for the study of abl in mice and aging. | 2005 | 16274317 |
| the paternal gene of the ddk syndrome maps to the schlafen gene cluster on mouse chromosome 11. | the ddk syndrome is an early embryonic lethal phenotype observed in crosses between females of the ddk inbred mouse strain and many non-ddk males. lethality results from an incompatibility between a maternal ddk factor and a non-ddk paternal gene, both of which have been mapped to the ovum mutant (om) locus on mouse chromosome 11. here we define a 465-kb candidate interval for the paternal gene by recombinant progeny testing. to further refine the candidate interval we determined whether males f ... | 2006 | 16172501 |
| grouping in auditory temporal perception and vocal production is mutually adapted: the case of wriggling calls of mice. | auditory gestalt perception by grouping of species-specific vocalizations to a perceptual stream with a defined meaning is typical for human speech perception but has not been studied in non-human mammals so far. here we use synthesized models of vocalizations (series of wriggling calls) of mouse pups (mus domesticus) and show that their mothers perceive the call series as a meaningful gestalt for the release of instinctive maternal behavior, if the inter-call intervals have durations of 100-400 ... | 2005 | 16075266 |
| the anogenital distance index of mice (mus musculus domesticus): an analysis. | the anogenital distance (agd) is sexually dimorphic in mus musculus domesticus, with the male agd approximately twice as long as that in female mice. among female mice, the agd varies as a function of prenatal androgen exposure. the anogenital distance index (agdi) has been developed to serve as an indicator of prior androgen exposure due to intrauterine position (iup). concerns have been raised that the agdi may not be an appropriate indicator of female iup in mice. to further refine the agdi, ... | 2005 | 16050669 |
| transmission of two australian strains of murine cytomegalovirus (mcmv) in enclosure populations of house mice (mus domesticus). | to control plagues of free-living mice (mus domesticus) in australia, a recombinant murine cytomegalovirus (mcmv) expressing fertility proteins is being developed as an immunocontraceptive agent. real-time quantitative pcr was used to monitor the transmission of two genetically variable field strains of mcmv through mouse populations after 25% of founding mice were infected with the n1 strain, followed by the g4 strain 6 weeks later. pathogen-free wild-derived mice were released into outdoor enc ... | 2005 | 16050517 |
| kin interactions and changing social structure during a population outbreak of feral house mice. | populations of feral house mice (mus domesticus l.) in australia undergo multiannual fluctuations in density, and these outbreaks may be partly driven by some change in behavioural self-regulation. in other vertebrate populations with multiannual fluctuations, changes in kin structure have been proposed as a causal mechanism for changes in spacing behaviour, which consequently result in density fluctuations. we tested the predictions of two alternative conceptual models based on kin selection in ... | 2005 | 16029479 |
| contractile abilities of normal and "mini" triceps surae muscles from mice (mus domesticus) selectively bred for high voluntary wheel running. | as reported previously, artificial selection of house mice caused a 2.7-fold increase in voluntary wheel running of four replicate selected lines compared with four random-bred control lines. two of the selected lines developed a high incidence of a small-muscle phenotype ("mini muscles") in the plantar flexor group of the hindlimb, which apparently results from a simple mendelian recessive allele. at generations 36-38, we measured wheel running and key contractile characteristics of soleus and ... | 2005 | 15947032 |