SELECTION FOR BLOOD PRESSURE LEVELS IN MICE

Response to two-way selection for systolic blood pressure was immediate and continuous for about eight generations. In the twelfth generation, the High males differed from the Low males by 38 mmHG; the females differed by 39 mmHg. There was little overlap between the two lines and they were statistically significant from each other and from the Random control line. There appeared to be no more additive genetic variance in the eleventh and twelfth generations. Causes for the cessation of response are explored. This is probably due to a combination of natural selection acting to reduce litter sizes in the Low line, a higher incidence of sudden deaths in the High line, and loss of favorable alleles as both selection lines went through a population bottleneck in the ninth generation.—In the eleventh generation, the selected lines were used to produce F1, F2, and backcross generations. A genetic analysis yielded significant additive and dominance components in the inheritance of systolic blood pressure.