Lab Mice in the Field: Unorthodox Daily Activity and Effects of a Dysfunctional Circadian Clock Allele
Open accessAbstract
Daily patterns of animal behavior are potentially of vast functional importance. Fitness benefits have been identified in nature by the association between individual timing and survival or by the fate of individuals after experimental deletion of their circadian pacemaker. The recent advances in unraveling the molecular basis of circadian timing enable new approaches to natural selection on timing. The investigators report on the effect and fate of the mutant Per2 Brdm1 allele in 4 replicate populations of house mice in a seminatural outside environment over 2 years. This allele is known to compromise circadian organization and entrainment and to cause multiple physiological disturbances. Mice ( N = 250) bred from Per2 Brdm1 heterozygotes were implanted subcutaneously with transponders and released in approximately Mendelian ratios in four 400 m 2 pens. An electronic system stored the times of all visits to feeders of each individual. The study first demonstrates that mice are not explicitly nocturnal in this natural environment. Feeding activity was predominantly and sometimes exclusively diurnal and spread nearly equally over day and night under the protective snow cover in winter. The effect of Per2 Brdm1 on activity timing is negligible compared to seasonal changes in all genotypes. Second, the Per2 Brdm1 allele did not have persistent negative effects on fitness. In the first year, the allele gradually became less frequent by reducing survival. New cohorts captured had the same Per2 Brdm1 frequency as the survivors from previous cohorts, consistent with an absence of an effect on reproduction. In the second year, the allele recovered to about its initial frequency (0.54). These changes in selective advantage were primarily due to female mice, as females lived longer and the sex ratio dropped to about 25% males in the population. While it is unknown which selective advantage led to the recovery, the results caution against inferences from laboratory experiments on fitness consequences in the natural environment. It also demonstrates that the activity of mice, while strictly nocturnal in the laboratory, may be partially or completely diurnal in the field. The new method allows assessment of natural selection on specific alleles on a day-today basis.
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- Authors
- Daan, S., Spoelstra, K., Albrecht, U., Schmutz, I., Daan, M., Daan, B., Rienks, F., Poletaeva, I., Dell'Omo, G., Vyssotski, A., & Lipp, H.-P.
- Affiliations
- University of Groningen (NL)
- Leiden University (NL)
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NL)
- Laboratory of Physiology and Genetics of Behavior, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
- Division of Neuroanatomy and Behavior, Institute of Anatomy, University of Zürich, Switzerland
- University of Zurich (CH)
- Corresponding author
- Daan, Serge
- Venue
- Journal of Biological Rhythms
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2011-03-30
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 118-129
- ISSN
- 0748-7304 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-4531
- OpenAlex
- W2101277178
- Cited by
- 149
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 5.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Locations
- Journal of Biological Rhythms (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- KNAW research portal (Royal Academy of Art and Sciences (KNAW)) (publishedVersion)
- reroDoc Digital Library (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion)
- University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Julius Klaus-Stiftung für Genetik und Sozialanthropologie
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Circadian rhythm and melatonin
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Physiological and biochemical adaptations
- Keywords
- circadian clock, house mice, activity patterns, feeding behavior, diurnal activity, nocturnal activity, natural selection, fitness effects, survival, sex ratio, seasonal variation
- MeSH terms
- Alleles, Animals, Behavior, Animal, Circadian Rhythm, Feeding Behavior, Female, Gene Frequency, Individuality, Male, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Seasons, Selection, Genetic, Survival, Chronobiology Disorders, Mice, Genetic Fitness, Period Circadian Proteins, Mice, 129 Strain, Circadian Clocks
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