Reactions of staggerer and non-mutant male mice to female urine and vaginal secretion odors.

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.