Féron C, Baudoin C
Université Paris-Nord, Laboratoire d'Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée, URA n° 667 CNRS, Villetaneuse, France.
Behav Processes. 1992;27(3):165-70. doi: 10.1016/0376-6357(92)90172-A.
Previous studies have shown that staggerer male mice do not copulate spontaneously. When meeting unfamiliar non-mutant females either in estrus or in anestrus condition, these neurological mutants behave similarly. One possible explanation is that staggerer males are unable to detect female odors. To test this hypothesis, male reactions to urine and vaginal secretions of females, either in estrous or in anestrous, were studied in a circular device allowing mutant and non-mutant males to move and to explore sources of odors during 20 minutes. Concerning vaginal secretions odors, the duration of time spent in different sectors by mutants was identical for both conditions of female sexual receptivity whereas non-mutant males spent more time on location with vaginal secretions of estrus females. For non-mutant and mutant males as well, duration of time spent in sectors with urine odors was similar for both conditions of female sexual receptivity. We hypothetised a possible deficiency for social odor detection and/or integration due to the staggerer mutation.
先前的研究表明，蹒跚雄性小鼠不会自发交配。当遇到处于发情期或非发情期的陌生非突变雌性小鼠时，这些神经突变体的行为表现相似。一种可能的解释是，蹒跚雄性小鼠无法察觉雌性气味。为了验证这一假设，在一个圆形装置中研究了雄性小鼠对发情期或非发情期雌性小鼠尿液和阴道分泌物的反应，该装置允许突变型和非突变型雄性小鼠在20分钟内移动并探索气味来源。关于阴道分泌物气味，在雌性性接受的两种情况下，突变体在不同区域停留的时间相同，而非突变雄性小鼠在有发情期雌性阴道分泌物的位置停留的时间更长。对于非突变型和突变型雄性小鼠来说，在有尿液气味的区域停留的时间在雌性性接受的两种情况下也相似。我们推测，由于蹒跚突变，可能存在社交气味检测和/或整合方面的缺陷。
