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Comparative Study
. 2002 Nov;32(6):435-43.
doi: 10.1023/a:1020884312053.

Food intake, water intake, and drinking spout side preference of 28 mouse strains

Affiliations
Comparative Study

Food intake, water intake, and drinking spout side preference of 28 mouse strains

Alexander A Bachmanov et al. Behav Genet. 2002 Nov.

Abstract

Male mice from 28 inbred strains (129P3/J, A/J, AKR/J, BALB/cByJ, BUB/BnJ, C3H/HeJ, C57BL/6J, C57L/J, CAST/Ei, CBA/J, CE/J, DBA/2J, FVB/NJ, I/LnJ, KK/H1J, LP/J, NOD/LtJ, NZB/B1NJ, P/J, PL/J, RBF/DnJ, RF/J, RIIIS/J, SEA/GnJ, SJL/J, SM/J, SPRET/Ei, and SWR/J) were fed chow and had access to two water bottles. Body weight, food intake, water intake, and drinking spout side preference were measured. There were large strain differences in all the measures collected, with at least a two-fold difference between strains with the lowest and the highest trait values. Estimates of heritability ranged from 0.36 (spout side preference) to 0.87 (body weight). Body weight, food intake, and water intake were interrelated among the strains, although substantial strain variation in food and water intakes independent from body weight was present. The strain differences described here provide useful information for designing mutagenesis screens and choosing strains for genetic mapping studies.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic of mouse cage showing the relative positions of the food and two drinking tubes containing water.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Mean body weights of 28 strains. Horizontal bars on columns are standard errors of the mean. Bars connected by a vertical line do not differ significantly from each other according to Tukey’s post hoc tests.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Mean food intakes (top panel) and food intakes adjusted for body weight (BW; food intake/body weight × 30; bottom panel) of 28 strains. Horizontal bars on columns are standard errors of the mean. Bars connected by a vertical line do not differ significantly from each other according to Tukey’s post hoc tests.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Mean water intakes (top panel) and water intakes adjusted for body weight (BW; water intake/body weight × 30; bottom panel) of 28 strains. Horizontal bars on columns are standard errors of the mean. Bars connected by a vertical line do not differ significantly from each other according to Tukey’s post hoc tests.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Mean spout side preferences of the 28 strains. Horizontal bars on columns are standard errors of the mean. Bars connected by a vertical line do not differ significantly from each other according to Tukey’s post hoc tests.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Scatterplots of mean strain values for body weight and indexes of food and water intakes. Data for individual strains are labeled with abbreviations when this does not obscure other data points.

References

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