Genetic selection for reproductive photoresponsiveness in deer mice

Abstract

Seasonal breeding is common in mammals, particularly in habitats outside the tropics. Climate and availability of food are the ultimate factors that usually dictate the optimal time of year for a mammal to breed ; however, day length (photoperiod) often serves as the proximal cue to signal the onset or cessation of seasonal reproduction¹. Some individuals in some populations of deer mice are reproductively responsive to photoperiod, while other individuals in the same population are not. As shown here, selection can dramatically alter the frequency of photoresponsiveness in a laboratory population in only two generations. To our knowledge this is the first demonstration of selection for reproductive photoresponsiveness in any mammal. By implication, some wild populations of deer mice must use multiple, genetic-based reproductive strategies, and the degree to which each such strategy is exhibited must be subject to rapid change in response to both seasonally and momentarily changing climatic and dietary conditions.