EXPERIMENTAL-EVIDENCE OF GENETIC DETERMINISM IN HIGH SUSCEPTIBILITY TO INTESTINAL PINWORM INFECTION IN MICE - A HYBRID ZONE MODEL

In the hybrid zone of the two mouse subspecies Mus musculus musculus a nd Mus musculus domesticus, mice with hybrid genotypes harbour, on the average, more helminth parasites (cestodes and nematodes) than mice o f the two parental taxa. In order to determine the roles played by gen etic parameters in this phenomenon, mice with recombined and parental genotypes were experimentally infected with the intestinal pinworm Asp iculuris tetraptera, a natural parasite of the house mouse. The result s showed that the high susceptibility of the hybrid zone mice is genet ically determined. In addition, this study shows the occurrence of var iability among resistant parental populations.