Multi-phenotype behavioral characterization of inbred strains derived fromwild stocks of Mus musculus

Many aspects of mouse behavior have been studied by using only a relatively small sample of available laboratory strains. These laboratory mice were d erived from the so-called "fancy mouse" and in most cases underwent extensi ve domestication before inbreeding. Thus, the behavioral repertoire of the laboratory mouse may be very different from that exhibited by stocks that h ave not been deliberately domesticated. Another inherent problem in analyzi ng mouse behavior is that genetic diversity is limited among currently avai lable strains. In this respect, the use of strains that are derived from a variety of wild mice should provide a means to identifying novel behavioral phenotypes. We have investigated several behavioral phenotypes, using fema les of a number of mouse strains derived from wild mice of different subspe cies, BFM/2, NJL, BLG2, HMI, CAST/Ei, KJR, SWN and MSM; a strain derived fr om fancy mice, JF1; and two laboratory strains. C57BL/6 and DBA/1. In this report, tests for locomotor activity, light-dark transitions, passive and a ctive avoidance, and nociception were conducted, The results show great div ersity of behavioral patterns between strains in contrast to less within-st rain variability. We also found that two strains, KJR and SWN, both have go od learning ability, whereas BLG2 mice exhibit impairment in both passive a nd active avoidance learning.