The overall aim of this research is to describe the genetic basis for the evolution of behavioral thermoregulation in the house mouse, Mus musculus. We will test hypotheses generated from studies of laboratory strains about the genetic basis of temperature regulation, both in natural populations of Mus, representing a north-south cline, and in experimental populations which are the result of long-term artificial selection for different levels of nest-building. Restriction analysis of mitochondrial DNA will be used to provide a sensitive index of genetic differences within and between populations, to supplement and aid in interpretation of phenotypic expression along a cline. The presence of the long-term selection experiment for nesting also provides an opportunity to examine the nature of selection limits and renewed response upon outbreeding, in a small population resembling those which occur in nature, in order to test certain aspects of selection theory. This study represents an increasingly detailed analysis of an integrated adaptive system in a mammal which approaches a human level of complexity. Quantitative genetic analysis can be combined with environmental manipulation to provide insight into mechanisms in the development and mediation of behavior, and to describe the potentials and limits of phenotypic expression in precise, quantitative terms.
| Wichman, H A; Lynch, C B (1991) Genetic variation for seasonal adaptation in Peromyscus leucopus: nonreciprocal breakdown in a population cross. J Hered 82:197-204 |
| Hotz, M M; Connolly, M S; Lynch, C B (1987) Adaptation to daily meal-timing and its effect on circadian temperature rhythms in two inbred strains of mice. Behav Genet 17:37-51 |
| Lynch, C B; Roberts, R C; Hill, W G (1986) Heterosis among lines of mice selected for body weight. 3. Thermoregulation. Genet Res 48:95-100 |
