Genetic Ecology of House Mice
Summary
The genetic ecology of the house mouse encompasses the study of its population structure, adaptive variation and evolutionary history as influenced by human activity and diverse environments. Wild Mus musculus subspecies harbour extensive genetic diversity that underpins a range of physiological, behavioural and morphological traits. Patterns of gene flow and hybridisation among M. m. domesticus, M. m. musculus and M. m. castaneus have illuminated subspecies boundaries and the role of introgression in local adaptation. Archeogenetic and landscape genomic approaches have traced global colonisation pathways, revealing how commensalism with humans has shaped demographic expansions and genetic exchanges. These insights inform pest management, biomedicine and our understanding of mammalian speciation.
Research from Nature Portfolio
Recent studies have combined ancient DNA analyses with geometric morphometrics and radiocarbon dating to pinpoint the onset of commensal behaviour in the Levant c. 14 500 years ago and to chart the subsequent spread across Europe alongside agricultural and proto-urban networks. These investigations reveal stepwise expansions into diverse human habitats, demonstrating how early sedentary societies facilitated synanthropic relationships. The integration of mitochondrial haplotyping and morphological data now provides a temporal framework for human-mediated dispersal and offers insights into the co-domestication trajectory of mice and cats.
Genetic Ecology of House Mice publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in genetic ecology of house mice across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Commensalism: A form of symbiosis in which one species benefits from association with another without harming it, here describing the mouse–human relationship.
Haplotype: A group of alleles at adjacent loci on a chromosome that are inherited together and can trace lineage or population structure.
Introgression: The incorporation of genetic material from one population or subspecies into another through hybridisation and backcrossing.
Selective sweep: A process where a beneficial allele rises rapidly in frequency, reducing genetic variation in surrounding regions of the genome.
Cis-eQTL: A genomic locus where genetic variants influence the expression level of a nearby gene.
References
- Into the Wild: A novel wild-derived inbred strain resource expands the genomic and phenotypic diversity of laboratory mouse models. PLOS Genetics (2024).
- The genomic basis of environmental adaptation in house mice. PLOS Genetics (2018).
- Genome Patterns of Selection and Introgression of Haplotypes in Natural Populations of the House Mouse (Mus musculus). PLOS Genetics (2012).
- Tracking the Near Eastern origins and European dispersal of the western house mouse. Scientific Reports (2020).
- Insights into mammalian biology from the wild house mouse Mus musculus. eLife (2015).
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