Stopková R, Stopka P, Janotová K, Jedelský P L
Biodiversity Research Group, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Vinicná 7, 128 44, Prague, Czech Republic.
J Chem Ecol. 2007 Apr;33(4):861-9. doi: 10.1007/s10886-007-9262-9.
The analysis of expression of pheromone-carrying major urinary proteins (MUPs) from two subspecies of house mice (Mus m. musculus, Mus m. domesticus) was studied. It has been previously shown that commensal populations of the two subspecies can discriminate on the basis of urinary signals. MUPs are predominant urinary proteins that protect pheromones from rapid degradation in a hydrophilic environment, and individuals of M. m. musculus tend to rely on these urinary cues in the process of subspecies discrimination more than M. m. domesticus individuals. Although it is not precisely known what triggers phenotypic and epigenetic changes of MUP expression, our results show that in the subspecies M. m. musculus, sex is a significant factor influencing variations in the regulation of selected MUPs in the liver. Furthermore, male M. m. musculus individuals expressed all the studied MUPs' mRNA significantly more than females or individuals of either sex in M. m. domesticus. Correspondingly, the pattern of mRNA abundance was corroborated with the level of total MUP concentration in the urine, such that the level of sexual dimorphism was also significant and species-specific. Our finding introduces a hypothesis that quantitative variation of these proteins may be an essential part of a subspecies recognition system that maintains homospecific mixing.
对家鼠两个亚种（小家鼠指名亚种、小家鼠家鼠亚种）携带信息素的主要尿液蛋白（MUPs）的表达进行了分析研究。此前已有研究表明，这两个亚种的共生种群能够根据尿液信号进行区分。MUPs是主要的尿液蛋白，可保护信息素在亲水环境中不被快速降解，小家鼠指名亚种个体在亚种区分过程中比小家鼠家鼠亚种个体更倾向于依赖这些尿液线索。虽然尚不清楚是什么触发了MUP表达的表型和表观遗传变化，但我们的研究结果表明，在小家鼠指名亚种中，性别是影响肝脏中选定MUPs调控变异的一个重要因素。此外，小家鼠指名亚种雄性个体所表达的所有研究MUPs的mRNA明显多于雌性个体或小家鼠家鼠亚种的任何性别的个体。相应地，mRNA丰度模式与尿液中总MUP浓度水平相符，因此性二态性水平也具有显著性且具有物种特异性。我们的发现提出了一个假设，即这些蛋白质的定量变异可能是维持同种混合的亚种识别系统的一个重要组成部分。
