Abstract
Two decades ago, we developed a congenic strain of Mus musculus, called b-congenic, by replacing the androgen-binding protein Abpa27a allele in the C3H/HeJ genome with the Abpa27b allele from DBA/2J. We and other researchers used this b-congenic strain and its C3H counterpart, the a-congenic strain, to test the hypothesis that, given the choice between signals from two strains with different a27 alleles on the same genetic background, test subjects would prefer the homosubspecific one. It was our purpose in undertaking this study to characterize the segment transferred from DBA to the C3H background in producing the b-congenic strain on which a role for ABPA27 in behavior has been predicated. We determined the size of the chromosome 7 segment transferred from DBA and the genes it contains that might influence preference. We found that the “functional" DBA segment is about 1% the size of the mouse haploid genome and contains at least 29 genes expressed in salivary glands, however, only three of these encode proteins identified in the mouse salivary proteome. At least two of the three genes Abpa27, Abpbg26 and Abpbg27 encoding the subunits of androgen-binding protein ABP dimers evolved under positive selection and the third one may have also. In the sense that they are subunits of the same two functional entities, the ABP dimers, we propose that their evolutionary histories might not be independent of each other.
Highlights
Strains of mice that differ in only one gene on an otherwise identical genetic background provide a powerful tool for investigating the function of the isolated gene
The Perlegen Mouse Ancestry Browser (MAB) and the Mouse Phylogeny Viewer (MPV) suggest that essentially the entire 3 Mb Androgen-binding protein (Abp) gene region spanning coordinates,32 to,35 Mb of DBA chromosome 7 came from M. m. musculus, with a small contribution from M. m. castaneus (Fig. 1A; mm9/build 37 cds are used here and for other map locations in this paper)
To estimate the size of the DBA chromosome segment transferred onto the C3H background, we first sequenced the genes on the proximal and distal ends of the Abp region in the C3H, DBA and b-congenic strains, including a2, a21p, a24, bg26, bg27, a27 and a30p
Summary
Strains of mice that differ in only one gene on an otherwise identical genetic background provide a powerful tool for investigating the function of the isolated gene. Musculus (eastern Europe to northern China) and Abpac in M. m.castaneus (Southeast Asia and Malaysia) [3,4]). Thought at the time to be the only alpha subunit gene in the mouse genome, Abpa had been shown to have three different alleles, each fixed in one of the three subspecies of Mus musculus This unusual Abpa monomorphism, resulting from a different allele having been fixed in each of three different subspecies, suggested that ABP might have a role in mediating subspecies recognition and that idea stimulated our interest in producing strains congenic for different alleles of Abpa. The existence of a relatively narrow house mouse hybrid zone between
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
