ABSTRACT
Previous work which appeared to show that some strains of mice taste glycine solutions as bitter has been found to be in error. The bitterness came from copper glycinate which formed in the brass drinking spouts. Taste testing with copper glycinate shows that the genetical data identifying the gene Glb are still valid. The close linkage of Glb and Rua has been confirmed. Most strains of mice prefer glycine solution to water, presumably because the glycine tastes sweet. The degree of preference for glycine is correlated with the degree of preference for other sweet substances such as saccharin or acesulfame. The gene dpa appears not to be involved. The sweetness tasting gene Sac has been mapped to chromosome 4 at 8.1 +/- 3.4 cM distal to Nppa (formerly Pnd). The bitterness tasting gene Soa is very closely linked to Prp on chromosome 6 (no recombinants among 67 backcross progeny). It is suggested that the sweetness and bitterness tasting genes have descended from a common ancestral tasting gene which existed before the tetraploidization of the genome which took place in early vertebrate evolution.
Subject(s)
Chromosome Mapping , Glycine , Organometallic Compounds , Taste/genetics , Animals , Female , Genes/genetics , In Vitro Techniques , Mice , Mice, Inbred StrainsABSTRACT
Twenty-six strains of mice were tested for their reaction to four different sweet substances; saccharin, acesulfame, dulcin and sucrose. There was considerable strain variation in the degree to which they found the sweet substances preferable to water. The variation in preference for any one sweet substance is very highly correlated with the variation in preference for the other sweet substances. This is interpreted to mean that there is only one sweetness receptor, although an alternative explanation in terms of variation in psychological motivation is not discounted. The difference between C57BL/6Ty and DBA/2Ty is largely due to a single gene, Sac.
Subject(s)
Genes , Sweetening Agents , Taste/physiology , Animals , MiceSubject(s)
Cycloheximide , Glycine , Mice, Inbred Strains/genetics , Taste , Alleles , Animals , Genes , Mice , Species SpecificityABSTRACT
Mice from 25 laboratory strains were given the choice of drinking a dilute (100 mg/litre) solution of phenylthiourea (PTC) or a control solution containing no PTC. The consumption of PTC by each strain was measured daily over a period of 10 days. There was considerable variation between strains in their consumption of PTC. The mean PTC consumption of the 13 albino strains was less than the mean of the 12 pigmented strains. Most strains showed a decrease in PTC consumption during the 10 days of the experiment and the albino strains showed, on average, a greater decrease than did the pigmented strains. Tests with congenic strains proved that the albino allele itself is not the cause of the reduced PTC consumption. The possibility of a gene which is linked to the albino locus and which has an effect on PTC consumption is discussed.
Subject(s)
Mice, Inbred Strains/genetics , Phenylthiourea , Taste , Animals , Female , Male , Mice , Species SpecificitySubject(s)
Mice, Inbred Strains/genetics , Taste , Animals , Avoidance Learning , Crosses, Genetic , Drinking Behavior , Genes , Mice , Mice, Inbred Strains/physiology , QuinineSubject(s)
Mice, Inbred Strains/genetics , Taste/physiology , Animals , Mice , Sucrose/analogs & derivativesSubject(s)
Fluoresceins/metabolism , Animals , Biotransformation , Chromatography, Thin Layer , Cricetinae , Female , Fluoresceins/urine , Gerbillinae , Hydroxylation , Male , Mesocricetus , Mice , Peromyscus , Rats , Species SpecificityABSTRACT
Male mice from 14 strains were injected i.p. with tremorine (3.0 mg/kg) or oxotremorine (0.15 or 0.1 mg/kg). Large inter-strain differences in the degree and duration of the subsequent hypothermia were noted. 2 strains, BALB/c and Simpson, were particularly sensitive to the hypothermic effect of oxotremorine. The offspring from a cross between BALB/c and Simpson were less sensitive than the parental strains, suggesting genetic complementation. A set of 7 recombinant inbred (RI) lines derived from strains C57BL and BALB/c were tested with oxotremorine. 5 RI lines resembled strain C57BL in their response and 2 RI lines resembled strain BALB/c. It was concluded that strains C57BL and BALB/c differ at a gene which has a major effect on the response to oxotremorine.
Subject(s)
Body Temperature/drug effects , Oxotremorine/pharmacology , Tremorine/pharmacology , Animals , Male , Mice , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Mice, Inbred C3H , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Mice, Inbred CBA , Mice, Inbred DBA , Mice, Inbred Strains , Species Specificity , Time FactorsSubject(s)
Coumarins/metabolism , Mice, Inbred Strains/metabolism , Adult , Animals , Female , Genes , Genetic Linkage , Humans , Mice , Mice, Inbred Strains/genetics , Species SpecificityABSTRACT
1. Twenty-six strains of mice were surveyed by starch gel electrophoresis for genetic variation of four liver enzymes; aldehyde dehydrogenase, aldehyde oxidase, xanthine oxidase and formaldehyde dehydrogenase. 2. A variant of aldehyde dehydrogenase was found in strains ICFW, IS/Cam, NZB, NZW, Simpson and Schneider. A variant of aldehyde oxidase was found in CE. A possible variant of xanthine oxidase was found in SF/Cam. 3. The gene determining the electrophoretic variant of aldehyde oxidase is either the same as, or very closely linked to, the Aox gene which determines aldehyde oxidase activity.
Subject(s)
Aldehyde Oxidoreductases/genetics , Genetic Variation , Xanthine Oxidase/genetics , Alleles , Animals , Crosses, Genetic , Electrophoresis, Starch Gel , Female , Genes, Dominant , Liver/enzymology , Male , Mice , Mice, Inbred Strains , PhenotypeABSTRACT
Sixteen strains of mice were compared with respect to their hexobarbitone sleeping time and their zoxazolamine paralysis time. The strains were A2G, CBA, CE, C3H, C57BL, C57L, DBA, F/st, ICFW, NMRI, NZB, Schneider, Simpson, SM, TO and 129/rr. All the strains except 129 Rr were also tested for survival on a diet containing 0.05% racemic Warfarin. There was highly significant interstrain correlation between hexobarbitone sleeping time and zoxazolamine paralysis time (r = 0.72) and between hexobarbitone sleeping time Warfarin survival (r = 0.68). There was a significant correlation between zoxazolamine paralysis time and Warfarin survival (r = 0.56). The correlations can be explained if: (1) there is a genetically determined interstrain variable which is some common component of the microsomal mixed-function oxidase systems involved in the hydroxylation of the three substances; (2) the anticoagulant action of Warfarin is caused more by a hydroxylated metabolite of Warfarin than by Warfarin itself. Phenobarbitone pretreatment shortened hexobarbitone sleeping times and zoxazolamine paralysis times, but its effect was greater in those strains with longer initial hexobarbitone sleeping times and zoxazolamine paralysis times. Piperonyl butoxide pretreatment lengthened hexobarbitone sleeping times, but had no effect on zoxazolamine paralysis times. Warfarin survival was unaltered by pretreatment with either phenobarbital or piperonyl butoxide.
Subject(s)
Hexobarbital/pharmacology , Microsomes, Liver/metabolism , Warfarin/pharmacology , Zoxazolamine/pharmacology , Animals , Female , Male , Mice , Mice, Inbred Strains , Microsomes, Liver/drug effects , Paralysis/chemically induced , Paralysis/metabolism , Sex Factors , Sleep/drug effects , Species SpecificityABSTRACT
Sixteen strains of mice varied widely in their ability to 7-hydroxylate injected coumarin to form umbelliferone, which is excreted in the urine. The same strains also varied in their resistance to the lethal effects of dietary Warfarin. There was no correlation between hydroxylating ability and Warfarin resistance.
Subject(s)
Coumarins/metabolism , Mice, Inbred Strains/metabolism , Mixed Function Oxygenases/metabolism , Warfarin/toxicity , Animals , Liver/metabolism , MiceABSTRACT
The heat stability at 56 C of xanthine oxidase (Xox) from mouse intestine was found to be affected by two factors: (1) Xox which had been partially digested by trypsin was less heat stable than Xox which was protected from digestion by the presence of soybean trypsin inhibitor and phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride; (2) Xox was less heat stable in glass tubes than in polystyrene tubes and siliconized glass tubes resembled polystyrene tubes in this respect.
Subject(s)
Intestine, Small/enzymology , Xanthine Oxidase/metabolism , Animals , Drug Stability , Glass , Hot Temperature , Male , Mice , Phenylmethylsulfonyl Fluoride/pharmacology , Polystyrenes , Trypsin/pharmacology , Trypsin Inhibitors/pharmacologyABSTRACT
1 Mescaline hemi-sulphate (35 mg/kg body weight) was injected intraperitoneally into male mice (Mus musculus) from seven genetically diverse laboratory strains. 2 The effect of mescaline was found by comparison of the emotional defaecation and open field activity of mice after mescaline injection with the performance of the same mice after a subsequent saline (0.9% w/v NaCl solution) control injection. 3 In strains A2G, C3H/He, C57BR/cd, CBA/Cam and F/St, mescaline inhibited emotional defaecation and stimulated open field activity. These effects did not occur in strains 1CFW and Schneider. 4 A positive relationship was found between the degree of emotional defaecation characteristic of each strain in the saline control experiment and the inhibitory effect of mescaline on emotional defaecation. 5 Pre-treatment of mice with tranylcypromine (20 mg/kg body weight, i.p.) had no effect on emotional defaecation or on its inhibition by mescaline.
Subject(s)
Defecation/drug effects , Emotions/drug effects , Mescaline/pharmacology , Mice, Inbred Strains/physiology , Motor Activity/drug effects , Animals , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Exploratory Behavior/drug effects , Female , Male , Mescaline/administration & dosage , Mice , Mice, Inbred A , Mice, Inbred C3H , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Mice, Inbred CBA , Species Specificity , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Males from the following strains were surveyed with respect to their hexobarbitone sleeping time: A2G, C57BR, C3H, F/st, CBA, ICFW and Schneider. Males from the same strains had previously been surveyed with respect to the inhibitory effect of mescaline on their emotional defaecation. There is a strong interstrain correlation between the 2 measures. This correlation was unexpected on theoretical grounds and may have important pharmacogenetic implications.
