No speed dating please! Patterns of social preference in male and female house mice
Abstract Background In many animal species, interactions between individuals of different sex often occur in the context of courtship and mating. During these interactions, a specific mating partner can be chosen. By discriminating potential mates according to specific characteristics, individuals c...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2017-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Zoology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12983-017-0224-y |
| _version_ | 1811260956861267968 |
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| author | Miriam Linnenbrink Sophie von Merten |
| author_facet | Miriam Linnenbrink Sophie von Merten |
| author_sort | Miriam Linnenbrink |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background In many animal species, interactions between individuals of different sex often occur in the context of courtship and mating. During these interactions, a specific mating partner can be chosen. By discriminating potential mates according to specific characteristics, individuals can increase their evolutionary fitness in terms of reproduction and offspring survival. In this study, we monitored the partner preference behaviour of female and male wild house mice (Mus musculus domesticus) from populations in Germany (G) and France (F) in a controlled cage setup for 5 days and six nights. We analysed the effects of individual factors (e.g. population origin and sex) on the strength of preference (selectivity), as well as dyadic factors (e.g. neutral genetic distance and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) dissimilarity) that direct partner preferences. Results Selectivity was stronger in mice with a pure population background than mixed individuals. Furthermore, female mice with a father from the German population had stronger selectivity than other mice. In this group, we found a preference for partners with a larger dissimilarity of their father’s and their partner’s MHC, as assessed by sequencing the H2-Eß locus. In all mice, selectivity followed a clear temporal pattern: it was low in the beginning and reached its maximum only after a whole day in the experiment. After two days, mice seemed to have chosen their preferred partner, as this choice was stable for the remaining four days in the experiment. Conclusions Our study supports earlier findings that mate choice behaviour in wild mice can be paternally influenced. In our study, preference seems to be potentially associated with paternal MHC distance. To explain this, we propose familial imprinting as the most probable process for information transfer from father to offspring during the offspring’s early phase of life, which possibly influences its future partner preferences. Furthermore, our experiments show that preferences can change after the first day of encounter, which implies that extended observation times might be required to obtain results that allow a valid ecological interpretation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T18:55:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0354737a501940898109054b134dc804 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1742-9994 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T18:55:24Z |
| publishDate | 2017-07-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Zoology |
| spelling | doaj.art-0354737a501940898109054b134dc8042022-12-22T03:20:20ZengBMCFrontiers in Zoology1742-99942017-07-0114111410.1186/s12983-017-0224-yNo speed dating please! Patterns of social preference in male and female house miceMiriam Linnenbrink0Sophie von Merten1Max- Planck Institute for Evolutionary BiologyMax- Planck Institute for Evolutionary BiologyAbstract Background In many animal species, interactions between individuals of different sex often occur in the context of courtship and mating. During these interactions, a specific mating partner can be chosen. By discriminating potential mates according to specific characteristics, individuals can increase their evolutionary fitness in terms of reproduction and offspring survival. In this study, we monitored the partner preference behaviour of female and male wild house mice (Mus musculus domesticus) from populations in Germany (G) and France (F) in a controlled cage setup for 5 days and six nights. We analysed the effects of individual factors (e.g. population origin and sex) on the strength of preference (selectivity), as well as dyadic factors (e.g. neutral genetic distance and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) dissimilarity) that direct partner preferences. Results Selectivity was stronger in mice with a pure population background than mixed individuals. Furthermore, female mice with a father from the German population had stronger selectivity than other mice. In this group, we found a preference for partners with a larger dissimilarity of their father’s and their partner’s MHC, as assessed by sequencing the H2-Eß locus. In all mice, selectivity followed a clear temporal pattern: it was low in the beginning and reached its maximum only after a whole day in the experiment. After two days, mice seemed to have chosen their preferred partner, as this choice was stable for the remaining four days in the experiment. Conclusions Our study supports earlier findings that mate choice behaviour in wild mice can be paternally influenced. In our study, preference seems to be potentially associated with paternal MHC distance. To explain this, we propose familial imprinting as the most probable process for information transfer from father to offspring during the offspring’s early phase of life, which possibly influences its future partner preferences. Furthermore, our experiments show that preferences can change after the first day of encounter, which implies that extended observation times might be required to obtain results that allow a valid ecological interpretation.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12983-017-0224-ySocial preferenceDecision making processMate choiceMus musculus domesticusMHCFamilial imprinting |
| spellingShingle | Miriam Linnenbrink Sophie von Merten No speed dating please! Patterns of social preference in male and female house mice Frontiers in Zoology Social preference Decision making process Mate choice Mus musculus domesticus MHC Familial imprinting |
| title | No speed dating please! Patterns of social preference in male and female house mice |
| title_full | No speed dating please! Patterns of social preference in male and female house mice |
| title_fullStr | No speed dating please! Patterns of social preference in male and female house mice |
| title_full_unstemmed | No speed dating please! Patterns of social preference in male and female house mice |
| title_short | No speed dating please! Patterns of social preference in male and female house mice |
| title_sort | no speed dating please patterns of social preference in male and female house mice |
| topic | Social preference Decision making process Mate choice Mus musculus domesticus MHC Familial imprinting |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12983-017-0224-y |
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