Effect of a coat color locus on kidney lysosomal glycosidases in the house mouse

Activities of three lysosomal glycosidases, -galactosidase, -glucuronidase, and N-acetyl--hexosaminidase, have been shown to differ in bf/bf and bf/+ mice. Thus bf/bf mice usually have much higher activities of these enzymes in their kidney cells than bf/+ animals. There seem, however, to be some exceptions to this general pattern, especially for galactosidase of females from the C57BL/6J strain. A likely interpretation of the difference is that the bf locus has pleiotropic effects. An alternative explanation, less likely, is that a gene closely linked to bf is involved. There is also a differential response to dihydrotestosterone in different groups of mice reflected in activity changes of the three enzymes.This work was supported by the Hierta Memorial Fund and the Swedish Natural Science Research Council.