Genetic variation in male sexual behaviour in a population of white-footed mice in relation to photoperiod
Section snippets
Selection Lines of Peromyscus leucopus
Detailed descriptions of the selection lines used in this study are available elsewhere (Broussard et al., 2009, Heideman et al., 1999, Heideman and Pittman, 2009); here we provide a brief description. Two artificial selection lines and an unselected control line were established in 1995 from 208 offspring of 48 wild-caught mice. These 208 offspring were conceived under long photoperiod and transferred at birth to short photoperiod. At an age of 67–73 days, body mass and reproductive
Experiment 1: Variability and Phenotypic Plasticity in Sexual Behaviour, Reproductive Organs and Body Mass
Testes and seminal vesicles were larger in nonresponder mice than in responder mice (Fig. 1a, b, Table 1). In both lines, testes and seminal vesicles were significantly larger under long photoperiod than under short photoperiod (Fig. 1a, b, Table 1). Although testes mass of nonresponder mice in the short-day group was similar to that of responder mice in the control group (Fig. 1a), nonresponder mice in the short-day group had smaller seminal vesicles (Fig. 1b). Body mass of adult males was
Discussion
Our results demonstrate heritable variation in male sexual behaviour under short photoperiod. Short photoperiod caused lower reproductive organ mass and sperm counts in both lines (Fig. 1), indicating that both lines detect and respond to a seasonal photoperiod signal. Male sexual behaviour was strongly reduced only in the responder line under short photoperiod (Fig. 3a), in which male sexual behaviour did not occur on the test night below defined thresholds of reproductive organ mass and sperm
Acknowledgments
We thank Donald Dewsbury for valuable insights into scoring sexual behaviours of Peromyscus, Eric Bradley and Daniel Cristol for useful comments on the experimental design and analyses. We thank Lisa Moore and Lydia Wright-Jackson for animal care. Two anonymous referees and the editor provided invaluable suggestions to improve the manuscript. Funding was provided by the National Institutes of Health (R15-HD068962) and the College of William and Mary.
References (53)
- et al.
Of mice and missing data: what we know (and need to learn) about male sexual behavior
Physiology & Behavior
(2004) - et al.
The interaction of photoperiod and testosterone on the development of copulatory behavior in castrated male hamsters
Physiology & Behavior
(1978) - et al.
Sexual behavior, reproductive physiology and sperm competition in male mammals
Physiology & Behavior
(2004) - et al.
False discovery rate control is a recommended alternative to Bonferroni-type adjustments in health studies
Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
(2014) Stress and decision making under the risk of predation: recent developments from behavioral, reproductive, and ecological perspectives
Advances in the Study of Behavior
(1998)- et al.
Short photoperiods affect male hamster sociosexual behaviors in the presence and absence of testosterone
Physiology & Behavior
(1990) - et al.
Short photoperiod and testosterone-induced modification of GnRH release from the hypothalamus of Peromyscus maniculatus
Brain Research
(2007) - et al.
Behavioral neuroendocrinology in nontraditional species of mammals: things the ‘knockout’ mouse can't tell us
Hormones and Behavior
(2005) - et al.
Insulins, leptin and feeding in a population of Peromyscus leucopus (white-footed mouse) with variable fertility
Hormones and Behavior
(2014) Categorical data analysis
(2002)
Response to selection for photoperiod responsiveness on the density and location of mature GnRH-releasing neurons
American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology
Maintenance of sexual function with testosterone in the gonadotropin-releasing hormone-immunized hypogonadotropic infertile male rat
Biology of Reproduction
Social Inhibition of sexual maturation in male prairie deer mice
Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology
Effects of reproductive function and cold tolerance in deer mice
American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology
Genetic response to rapid climate change: it's seasonal timing that matters
Molecular Ecology
Mammalian reproductive biology
Seasonal regulation of reproduction in mammals
Age-related decline in reproductive sensitivity to inhibition by short photoperiod in Peromyscus leucopus
Journal of Mammology
Genetic selection for reproductive photoresponsiveness in deer mice
Nature
Copulatory behavior of white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus)
Journal of Mammalogy
Recovery from sexual satiety in deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus bairdi)
Journal of Comparative Psychology
Evolutionary physiology
Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics
Competition drives cooperation among closely related sperm of deer mice
Nature
Reproductive status influences odor preferences of the meadow vole, Microtus pennsylvanicus, in winter day lengths
Canadian Journal of Zoology
Top–down approaches to the study of natural variation in complex physiological pathways using the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) as a model
ILAR Journal
Characteristics of a genetic polymorphism for reproductive photoresponsiveness in the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus)
Biology of Reproduction
Cited by (4)
Plasticity of white adipose tissue in tupaia belangeri under food restriction and refeeding
2022, Pakistan Journal of ZoologyIndividual differences in the phenotypic flexibility of basal metabolic rate in Siberian Hamsters are consistent on short- and long-term timescales
2017, Physiological and Biochemical ZoologyGenetic variation in total number and locations of GnRH neurons identified using in situ hybridization in a wild-source population
2016, Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological Genetics and Physiology
- 1
E-mail address: [email protected] (K. Sharp).
- 2
E-mail address: [email protected] (D. Bucci)
- 3
E-mail address: [email protected] (P. K. Zelensky).
- 4
E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Chesney).
- 5
E-mail address: [email protected] (W. Tidhar).
- 6
E-mail address: [email protected] (D. R. Broussard).