RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Genetic Mapping of Variation in Spatial Learning in the Mouse
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 2426
OP 2433
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.23-06-02426.2003
VO 23
IS 6
A1 Steinberger, Daniela
A1 Reynolds, David S.
A1 Ferris, Pushpindar
A1 Lincoln, Rachael
A1 Datta, Susmita
A1 Stanley, Joanna
A1 Paterson, Andrea
A1 Dawson, Gerard R.
A1 Flint, Jonathan
YR 2003
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/23/6/2426.abstract
AB Inbred strains of mice are known to differ in their performance in the Morris water maze task, a test of spatial discrimination and place navigation in rodents, but the genetic basis of individual variation in spatial learning is unknown. We have mapped genetic effects that contribute to the difference between two strains, DBA/2 and C57BL6/J, using an F2 intercross and methods to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL). We found two QTL, one on chromosome 4 and one on chromosome 12, that influence behavior in the probe trial of the water maze (genome-wide significance p = 0.017 and 0.015, respectively). By including tests of avoidance conditioning and behavior in a novel environment, we show that the QTL on chromosomes 4 and 12 specifically influence variation in spatial learning. QTL that influence differences in fearful behavior (on chromosomes 1, 3, 7, 15, and 19) operate while mice are trained in the water maze apparatus.