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Spermatogenic defects in F 2 mice between normal mouse strains C 3 H and C 57 BL /6 without mutation
Author(s) -
Gotoh Hideo,
Aoyama Hiroaki
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
congenital anomalies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1741-4520
pISSN - 0914-3505
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-4520.2012.00379.x
Subject(s) - phenotype , gene , biology , allele , genetics , epistasis , mutation , offspring , phenotypic switching , infertility , strain (injury) , anatomy , pregnancy
Genetic disorders are usually considered to be caused by harmful gene mutations, as well as by chromosomal aberrations, including small insertions, duplications and/or deletions. However, as infertile individuals often arise among the offspring of crosses between two fertile mouse strains, we postulate that a certain combination of ‘normal’ genes with neither gene mutations nor chromosomal aberrations can cause such serious phenotypic alterations as reproductive dysfunction. In this study, we show evidence that a combination of multiple normal genes from two different normal mouse strains manifests a wide range of male reproductive dysfunctions, from benign changes to complete infertility. These abnormal phenotypes are thought to have occurred by epistatic interactions of alleles.