THE GENETIC-BASIS OF PREFERENCE FOR SWEET SUBSTANCES AMONG INBRED STRAINS OF MICE - PREFERENCE RATIO PHENOTYPES AND THE ALLELES OF THE SAC AND DPA LOCI

Five inbred strains (129/J, BALB/cByJ, C3HeB/FeJ, C57Bl/6J and DBA/2J) were examined with two-bottle (48 h) preference ratio testing across concentrations of sodium saccharin (3 x 10(-4) M, 10(-3) M, 3 x 10(-3) M and 10(-2) M), d-phenylalanine (10(-3) M, 10(-2) M and 10(-1) M), a nd l-glutamine (10(-2) M, 3 x 10(-2) M, 10(-1) M and 3 x 10(-1) M). Th ree consistent groupings of strains were observed across substances an d concentrations: (1) C57Bl/6J (preference at low and high concentrati ons); (2) BALB/cByJ and C3HeB/FeJ (preference at high concentrations); (3) 129/J and D8A/2J (preference at high concentration for sodium sac charin and indifference to d-phenylalanine and l-glutamine). If a sing le locus (presumably dpa or Sac) determines these phenotypes, there ar e likely to be three alleles. If two independent loci (presumably dpa and Sac) determine these phenotypes, an allelic assignment of Sac(b)/d pa(+s) for the C57Bl/6J strain, Sac(b)/dpa(-s) for the BALB/cByJ and C 3HeB/FeJ strains, and either Sac(d)/dpa(+s) or Sac(d)/dpa(-s) for the 129/J and DBA/2J strains is suggested.