Cytoplasmic Inheritance of a Cell Surface Antigen in the Mouse

Mta is a cell surface antigen of the mouse and serves as a target for specific T killer lymphocytes. Using a killer cell assay, the antigen has been found in 72 strains of laboratory mice and, with one exception, in all tested samples of mice caught in the wild or bred from such, including Mus molossinus, Mus castaneus and Mus spretus. Five strains of rats, non-inbred NMRI mice, most substrains of NZB mice and the closely related strain NZO are negative for Mta. In reciprocal F₁ crosses between several Mta⁺ and two Mta^- strains, the antigen is maternally transmitted; that is, Mta⁺ females bear only positive offspring, whereas Mta^- females bear only negative offspring, regardless of the genotype of the male. Since 34 foster-nursed mice had the Mta type of their genetic mothers, the factor that determines expression of Mta must be transmitted before birth and not via the milk. The cytoplasmic genes of Mta⁺ strains have been combined with the chromosomal genes of Mta^- strains, and vice versa, by repeated backcrossing. All progeny retained the Mta type of their maternal lines. Thus, the Mta type is determined solely by maternal inheritance and is not influenced by chromosomal genes. We found no evidence of incompatibility between the cytoplasmic factors and nuclear genes of Mta^- and Mta ⁺ strains.