The balance hypothesis of the effect of socially important volatile chemosignals on reactivity of chromosome machinery of bone marrow dividing cells in the house mouse <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mus musculus</Emphasis>

Volatile chemosignals released by female CBA mice are shown to affect the chromosome machinery of bone marrow cells in mature syngenic males in different ways depending on the experimental conditions. Chemosignals excreted by solitary adult females decrease the frequency of mitotic disturbances in bone marrow dividing cells of male recipients as compared with the spontaneous level in control animals. At the same time, 2,5-dimethylpyrazine, a pheromone released only by females caged at high densities, increases the frequency of mitotic disturbances. A preliminary 24-h treatment of males with chemosignals excreted by solitary females reduces the effect of a subsequent exposure to 2,5-dimethylpyrazine, however, the frequency of disturbances is still higher than that in the control. The simultaneous exposure to both chemosignals results in complete neutralization of the 2,5-dimethylpyrazine effect, and the frequency of mitotic disturbances does not differ from that observed after the exposure to solitary female chemosignals. It is hypothesized that the cytogenetic effects found in male recipients depend on the social housing conditions under which female chemosignal donors were kept.