Female behavior drives the formation of distinct social structures in C57BL/6J versus wild-derived outbred mice in field enclosures

Caleb C. Vogt, Matthew N. Zipple, Daniel D. Sprockett, Caitlin H. Miller, Summer X. Hardy, Matthew K. Arthur, Adam M. Greenstein, Melanie S. Colvin, Lucie M. Michel, Andrew H. Moeller, Michael J. Sheehan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Social behavior and social organization have major influences on individual health and fitness. Yet, biomedical research focuses on studying a few genotypes under impoverished social conditions. Understanding how lab conditions have modified social organizations of model organisms, such as lab mice, relative to natural populations is a missing link between socioecology and biomedical science. Results: Using a common garden design, we describe the formation of social structure in the well-studied laboratory mouse strain, C57BL/6J, in replicated mixed-sex populations over 10-day trials compared to control trials with wild-derived outbred house mice in outdoor field enclosures. We focus on three key features of mouse social systems: (i) territory establishment in males, (ii) female social relationships, and (iii) the social networks formed by the populations. Male territorial behaviors were similar but muted in C57 compared to wild-derived mice. Female C57 sharply differed from wild-derived females, showing little social bias toward cage mates and exploring substantially more of the enclosures compared to all other groups. Female behavior consistently generated denser social networks in C57 than in wild-derived mice. Conclusions: C57 and wild-derived mice individually vary in their social and spatial behaviors which scale to shape overall social organization. The repeatable societies formed under field conditions highlights opportunities to experimentally study the interplay between society and individual biology using model organisms.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number35
JournalBMC Biology
Volume22
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2024
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Biotechnology
  • Structural Biology
  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Physiology
  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
  • Plant Science
  • Developmental Biology
  • Cell Biology

Keywords

  • Laboratory mice
  • Social structure
  • Socioecology
  • Space use
  • Territoriality
  • Wild-derived mice

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