This award renews support of the Peromyscus Genetic Stock Center at the University of South Carolina at Columbia. The deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) and congeneric species are among the most abundant and widely distributed North American mammals. They are found in a variety of natural habitats within a range that extends from Alaska to Central America. Several of the most common species are used frequently as models to study fundamental processes underlying speciation, adaptative physiology, behavior, and community ecology. The Peromyscus Genetic Stock Center, established in 1985 is a reliable source of Peromyscus and related materials for the national scientific and education communities. The Center currently houses seven species of Peromyscus and more than 35 distinctive mutant or otherwise genetically defined stocks, primarily of the deer mouse. The Stock Center supplies researchers and educators with live animals and with selected biological materials, including fresh or preserved tissues, molecular probes, and libraries of cloned Peromyscus DNA. It also functions as a clearinghouse for information by sponsoring an Internet database, maintaining a reference collection of reprints, standardizing the genetic nomenclature for the genus and publishing a semi-annual Peromyscus Newsletter.
