Analysis of lines of mice selected on fat content: 4. Correlated responses in growth and reproduction

Abstract

SummaryLines of mice have been selected for 32 generations for either high or low fat content, resulting in a threefold divergence in the selection criterion (estimated fat content of males at 14 weeks of age). Male mice from both lines were dissected at a series of ages between 4 and 26 weeks and the following traits measured or estimated: body weight, fat content, lean weight, and the weights of several fatpads and internal organs. The lines appeared to have a similar underlying lean weight upon which the Fat line accumulated fat at a faster rate. This accumulation continued unabated in the Fat lines for at least 26 weeks but had effectively ceased by 8 weeks of age in the Lean. The liver and kidneys were slightly larger in the Fat line but there were no differences in the weights of heart, lung or spleen. This detailed phenotypic description of the lines complemented previous reports describing correlated changes in their physiology. The threefold divergence in estimated fat content was less than that in one of its component traits, growth of gonadal fatpad, but was greater than the divergence in other physiological indicators, i.e. the activity of lipogenic enzymes in vitro and direct measurement of lipogenic flux. Testis size in the Fat line was consistently lower than in the Lean although the Fat line was slightly more fecund, apparently due to a higher prenatal survival rate.