Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T13:59:55.354Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Aspects of temperature regulation in mice selected for large and small size

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2009

Carol Becker Lynch
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut 06457
R. C. Roberts
Affiliation:
Institute of Animal Genetics, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JN
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

We measured traits involved in physiological and behavioural thermoregulation in the 6 replicates of a selection experiment for large and small size (6-week weight) in mice, including control lines (18 lines in all). The observed genetic correlations between body size and thermoregulatory traits are consistent with a thermoregulatory advantage of large size, including decreased weight-specific food consumption and increased nest-building, with no change in body temperature. The differences in food consumption were closely paralleled by differences in amount of brown adipose tissue, strongly suggesting that much of the decreased efficiency of the small lines is due to heat production by brown fat. These results are consistent with available observations on natural populations, that selection for temperature adaptation probably has had some influence on body size in this species.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

References

REFERENCES

Barnett, S. A., Muneo, A. M. H., Smart, J. L. & Stoddart, R. C. (1975). House mice bred for many generations in two environments. Journal of Zoology 177, 153169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bergmann, C. (1847). Uber die Verhaltnisse der Warmeokonomie der Thiere zu ihrer Grosse. Gottinger Studien 3 (1), 595708.Google Scholar
Berey, R. J., Peters, J. & Van Aarde, R. J. (1978). Sub-antarctie house mice: colonization, survival and selection. Journal of Zoology 184, 127141.Google Scholar
Chaffee, R. R. J. & Roberts, J. C. (1971). Temperature acclimation in birds and mammals. Annual Review of Physiology 33, 155197.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Falconer, D. S. (1973). Replicated selection for body weight in mice. Genetical Research 22, 291321.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Falconer, D. S. (1981). Introduction to Quantitative Genetics. New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Hart, J. S. (1971). Rodents. In Comparative Physiology of Thermoregulation, vol. 2 (ed. Whittow, G. C.), pp. 1151. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Lacy, R. C. & Lynch, C. B. (1979). Quantitative genetic analysis of temperature regulation in Mus musculus. I. Partitioning of variance. Genetics 91, 743753.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lynch, C. B. (1980). Response to divergent selection for nesting behavior in Mus musculus. Genetics 96, 757765.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lynch, C. B., Connolly, M. S. & Sulzbach, D. S. (1981). Genetic correlations among components of an adaptive syndrome. American Zoologist 21, 986.Google Scholar
McNab, B. K. (1971). On the ecological significance of Bergmann's rule. Ecology 52, 845854.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plomin, R. J. & Manosevitz, M. (1974). Behavioral polytypism in wild Mus musculue. Behavior Genetics 4, 145157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Priestly, G. C. & Robertson, M. S. M. (1973). Protein and nucleic acid metabolism in organs from mice selected for larger and smaller body size. Genetical Research 22, 255278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Radcliffe, J. D. & Webster, A. J. F. (1976). Regulation of food intake during growth in fatty and lean female Zucker rats given diets of different protein content. British Journal of Nutrition 36, 457469.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roberts, R. C. (1979). Side-effects of selection for growth in laboratory animals. Livestock Production Science 6, 93104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, R. C. (1981). The growth of mice selected for large and small size in relation to food intake and the efficiency of conversion. Genetical Research 38, 924.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rothwell, N. J. & Stock, M. J. (1979). A role for brown adipose tissue in diet-induced thermogenesis. Nature 281, 3135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sokal, R. R. & Rohlf, F. J. (1969). Biometry. San Francisco: Freeman.Google Scholar
Sulzbach, D. S. & Lynch, C. B. (1984). Quantitative genetic analysis of temperature regulation in Mus musculus. III. Diallel analysis of correlations between traits. Evolution (In the Press.)Google ScholarPubMed