Ped gene deletion polymorphism frequency in wild mice |
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Authors: | Newmark Judith A Sacher Frank Jones Gwilym S Warner Carol M |
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Institution: | Department of Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. |
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Abstract: | The Ped gene influences the rate of cleavage of preimplantation embryos and their subsequent survival. Embryos that express the product of the Ped gene, Qa-2 protein, cleave at a faster rate than embryos with an absence of Qa-2 protein. In addition, the Ped gene has pleiotropic effects on reproduction. Thus, there is a reproductive advantage to those mouse strains that are Qa-2 positive. The presence or absence of Qa-2 is reflected at the DNA level by the presence or absence (deletion polymorphism) of the gene(s) encoding Qa-2 protein. Many inbred and wild-derived mouse strains have been characterized as Qa-2 positive or negative, but no previous studies have looked at the distribution of the Ped gene in a population of free-living wild mice. The purpose of this study was to determine the Ped gene deletion polymorphism frequency in a sample of free-living wild mice. Twenty-nine mice were collected and identified as Mus musculus. Genomic DNA extraction was performed on tail tips, and PCR was used to amplify a region from the Ped gene. Known Qa-2 positive and negative mice were used as controls. Results showed that all 29 wild mice were positive for the Ped gene. Since the Ped gene is dominant and provides a reproductive advantage, it is not surprising that all of the wild mice were Qa-2 positive. However, our assay could not distinguish homozygous from heterozygous mice. It is possible that the Qa-2 deletion polymorphism is segregating in the population, and a larger sample size would identify some Qa-2 negative mice. |
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