A developmental-genetic analysis of aggressive behavior in mice. II. Cross-sex inheritance.

Abstract

Differences in aggression produced by selective breeding for differential aggressiveness among male mice are also inherited by females: the expression of these differences in female mice depends on the conditions of assessment. In the standard opponents tests after isolation housing, consistent line differentiation was clear in males to the S 8 generation, but no aggressive behavior occurred at all in female tests. In contrast, in postpartum tests and in repeated intruder trials over the life span of group-reared animals, females from the line of high-aggressive males were more aggressive than females from the line of low-aggressive males. These findings indicate that the genetic pathways that mediate aggressive behavior in male and female mice are not entirely independent.