A Method for Selective Breeding to Domesticate Mice

Abstract

AbstractDomestication of animals plays an important role in human life by providing food and supporting work. A number of livestocks have been developed by selecting animals that exhibit an appropriate phenotype in the process of breeding in human history. Several experimental approaches have been applied to domesticated animals from wild stock in several species. Tameness, a major factor in domestication, is composed of two components—active and passive tameness. In a previous study, we established three behavioral tests (active tameness, passive tameness, and stay-on-hand tests) to measure these two components separately. For further studies, we applied selective breeding as a behavioral parameter of active tameness. Wild-derived heterogeneous stock (WHS), which was established from eight wild strains originating from different countries, was used as a founder stock for selective breeding. Given that WHS was derived from eight genetically different wild strains, the founder stock was highly diverse in terms of the domestication phenotype. The results of selection showed that the value of active tameness increased through the generation of selective breeding. Animals established by selective breeding are highly useful for not only studying the mechanism of domestication but also other behavioral studies. In this chapter, we have described the methods for measuring tameness in mice, developing WHS, and conducting selective breeding based on the score of active tameness.Key wordsTamenessMouseDomesticationSelective breedingHeterogeneous stockBehaviorActive tameness