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SUMMARY:The house mouse as a model system for evolutionary research - Diet
 hardt Tautz\, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology\, Ploen\, Germ
 any
DTSTART:20120314T130000Z
DTEND:20120314T140000Z
UID:TALK35744@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Jack Green
DESCRIPTION:The house mouse as a model system for evolutionary research\n\
 nAlthough the house mouse is a well-established model system for biomedica
 l research\, it has received much less attention by evolutionary biologist
 s so far. However\, there are many aspects that make it particularly suita
 ble for studying evolutionary questions. It has a well-defined history of 
 population expansions and colonization of new habitats\, ranging from dese
 rt climates to sub-Antarctic islands. Several colonizations have occurred 
 during historic times\, which allows studying the earliest phases of evolu
 tionary adaptations. The mouse has also a broad behavioral repertoire maki
 ng it suitable for analyzing social communication and mate choice. In the 
 past years\, we have build up a large collection of samples and animals fr
 om natural populations. I will report on the experimental approaches that 
 we are using to better understand the genetics of adaptation and populatio
 n differentiation. We can make full use of the genomic resources that were
  developed for the laboratory mouse\, allowing us to do genome scans for a
 daptive trait genes and to map the genetic basis for complex traits\, such
  as the unusual growth of mice on some islands. In parallel\, we have star
 ted to assess the mechanisms of assortative mating in semi-natural enclosu
 re experiments\, whereby the first experiments indicate that a paternal im
 printing effect is involved in mate choice decisions.
LOCATION:Part II Lecture Theatre\, Department of Zoology
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