Genetics of hemoglobin in the deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus. II. Multiple alleles at regulatory loci
Snyder, L.R.
Genetics 89(3): 531-550
1978
ISSN/ISBN: 0016-6731 PMID: 669256 Document Number: 130577
Deer mice are polymorphic for electrophoretic Hb phenotypes showing 1, 2 or 3 bands. Within the multibanded phenotypes, there is considerable variation in the Hb partitioning, defined as the fraction of total Hb made up by the secondary and tertiary bands. In subspecies P. m. sonoriensis, Hb partitionings range from 0.03 to 0.38. The inheritance of partitioning values is under remarkably strict genetic control. The genetic variation is additive and the narrow heritability is close to 1.0. The inheritance data can be modeled in precise detail by postulating multiple-allele polymorphisms at globin regulatory loci. Comparison of simulated versus actual inheritance data demonstrates that the so-called null structural alleles actually produce functional globins. The genetic controls in Peromyscus may be analogous to those in primates. The molecular mechanisms effecting the regulation are unknown. Different subspecies of P. maniculatus show strikingly different arrays of partitioning values, but the role of natural selection in maintaining the quantitative polymorphisms remains obscure.