Abstract
The historical origins of classical laboratory mouse strains have led to a relatively limited range of genetic and phenotypic variation, particularly for the study of behavior. Many recent efforts have resulted in improved diversity and precision of mouse genetic resources for behavioral research, including the Collaborative Cross and Diversity Outcross population. These two populations, derived from an eight way cross of common and wild-derived strains, have high precision and allelic diversity. Behavioral variation in the population is expanded, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Variation that had once been canalized among the various inbred lines has been made amenable to genetic dissection. The genetic attributes of these complementary populations, along with advances in genetic and genomic technologies, makes a systems genetic analyses of behavior more readily tractable, enabling discovery of a greater range of neurobiological phenomena underlying behavioral variation.
Highlights
Behavioral implications of the origins of inbred miceThe historical development of the laboratory mouse from the hands of collectors to the laboratory has been consequential to the study of behavior
The historical origins of classical laboratory mouse strains have led to a relatively limited range of genetic and phenotypic variation, for the study of behavior
Application of conventional behavioral assays reveals only a small range of variation among commonly used mouse strains. This constrained variation may facilitate the detection of small genetic effects that are present in the population, a property that has been successfully employed in crosses of closely related strains (Bailey et al 2008)
Summary
The historical development of the laboratory mouse from the hands of collectors to the laboratory has been consequential to the study of behavior. First noted in early Indian, Chinese, and Japanese historical records, mice were bred, collected and traded for unusual coat appearance and behaviors. These two selection criteria affected mouse behavior in the resulting population for two reasons, (1) the intentional selection for unusual behavioral characteristics. These inbred stocks later became the basis for virtually all experimental intercrosses, heterogeneous stocks, and other research populations that have been used to study genetic variation in behavior, derive selected lines, and develop mutant stocks. The breeding history has led to limited allelic diversity in particular regions of the genome (Yang et al 2007, 2011), spurious linkage, and a greatly limited range of behavioral variation relative to wild mice
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