MOUSE SUBSPECIES DIFFERENTIATION AND H-2 POLYMORPHISM

Four major groups of Mus musculus subspecies are analysed from the genetical view point. A number of genetic traits exhibited polymorphism. Most were common among domesticus, bactrianus and castaneus subspecies, while others were musculus subspecies‐specific. This suggests that the earliest differentiation was between domesticus and musculus. Mouse class I MHC was compared in these two lines. Immunological and molecular analyses of H‐2K molecules indicated that these two groups of mouse have several common haplotypes of class I molecules. Phenotype frequencies of these haplotypes are considerably different in each subspecies. “Overdominance selection” in class I H‐2 is one of the possible explanations for this. Copyright © 1990, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved