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The musculus-type Y Chromosome of the laboratory mouse is of Asian origin

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Abstract

Mus musculus domesticus, M.m. bactrianus, M. m. musculus, M.m. castaneus, and M.m. molossinus wild mice were investigated for polymorphisms of the Y Chromosome (Chr) genes Zinc finger-Y (Zfy) and Sex-determining region-Y (Sry). Zfy divided the Y Chrs of these mice into domesticus- (domesticus) and musculus-types (musculus, castaneus, molossinus). M.m. bactrianus specimens had both Y Chrs, possibly owing to the introgression of a musculus-type Y into this population. Sry identified a subpopulation of musculus-type Y chromosomes. This subpopulation, designated the molossinus-type, was found in M.m. molossinus, a M. musculus subspecies specimen from northern China (Changchun), and laboratory mice. The cumulative data suggest that M.m. musculus of northern China and Korea are subpopulation distinct from M.m. musculus of Europe and central China and that this subpopulation invaded Japan, giving rise to M.m. molossinus. Furthermore, the data suggest that the musculus-type Y of the laboratory mouse originated from this subpopulation, corroborating early historical record reporting that Chinese and Japanese mice that were imported into Europe for the pet trade contributed to the genome of the laboratory mouse.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cell Biology, Medical Center North, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Room T-2216, 37232-2175, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

    Claude M. Nagamine

  2. Department of Biology, McGill University, Montréal, Canada

    Yutaka Nishioka

  3. Department of Cell Genetics, National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Japan

    Kazuo Moriwaki

  4. Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, Université de Montpellier II, Montpellier, France

    Pierre Boursot & François Bonhomme

  5. Division of Cell and Developmental Genetics, Department of Medicine, Veteran Administration Medical Center, University of California, 94121, San Francisco, California, USA

    Yun Fai Chris Lau

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  1. Claude M. Nagamine
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  2. Yutaka Nishioka
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  3. Kazuo Moriwaki
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  4. Pierre Boursot
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  5. François Bonhomme
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  6. Yun Fai Chris Lau
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Nagamine, C.M., Nishioka, Y., Moriwaki, K. et al. The musculus-type Y Chromosome of the laboratory mouse is of Asian origin. Mammalian Genome 3, 84–91 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00431251

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00431251

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