Genotype-dependent participation of coat color gene loci in the behavioral traits of laboratory mice

• Published in: Behavioural processes 2011-10, Vol.88 (2), p.81-87
• Main Authors: Yamamuro, Yutaka, Shiraishi, Aya
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agouti locus; albino; Albino locus; alleles; Animal ethology; Animals; Base Sequence; Behavior, Animal - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Coat color; Color; DNA - genetics; Exons - genetics; Exploratory Behavior; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene frequency; Genotype; Hair Color - genetics; Hair Color - physiology; Laboratory mice; loci; Male; Mating; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Inbred DBA; Mice, Inbred ICR; Monophenol monooxygenase; Monophenol Monooxygenase - genetics; Novel exploratory behavior; Phenotype; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Social Environment; Species Specificity; structural genes
• ISSN: 0376-6357; 1872-8308
• DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2011.08.004

► The type of alleles at the individual agouti and albino loci could be identified by the methodology established in the present study. ► Novel exploratory activity was suppressed dependent on the frequency of the dominant wild-type allele at the agouti, but restricted to colored mice. ► Interplay of the albino and agouti loci should serve as basis for elucidation of the relationship between coat color phenotype and behavioral traits. To evaluate if loci responsible for coat color phenotypes contribute to behavioral characteristics, we specified novel gene loci associated with social exploratory behavior and examined the effects of the frequency of each allele at distinct loci on behavioral expression. We used the F2 generation, which arose from the mating of F1 mice obtained by interbreeding DBA/2 and ICR mice. Phenotypic analysis indicated that the agouti and albino loci affect behavioral traits. A genotype-based analysis revealed that novel exploratory activity was suppressed in a manner dependent on the frequency of the dominant wild-type allele at the agouti, but not albino, locus. The allele-dependent suppression was restricted to colored mice and was not seen in albino mice. The present results suggest that the agouti locus contributes to a particular behavioral trait in the presence of a wild-type allele at the albino locus, which encodes a structural gene for tyrosinase.