QTL for fertility and stress susceptibility in mice
Aim:
The main object in this project is to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for litter size and stress-susceptibility using the genome wide scan approach in reciprocally crossed mouse lines.
Hypothesis:
Stress susceptibility is one of the factors influencing fertility. The open field test is a method to study the behavioural pattern in mice.
Materials and Methods:
F2 mice from reciprocal crosses between the strains C56BL/6J (B6)and NMRI/DKFZ (NMRI) were subjected to an open-field test to find differences in stress responses. In addition, litter size was measured as a fertility trait of F2 females. A genome wide scan is performed with informative markers to identify QTLs for fertility and stress susceptibility.
Expected results:
Identified QTL regions will give a hint on potential candidate genes for fertility and stress response in mice