How Mice Can Recognize Relatives They've Never Met, Study

It is interesting that mice can recognise close relatives-even if they have never met before. As they look very similar, they are able to smell out those that are related to them, and avoid them for nest mates, say researchers from the University of Liverpool, according to natureworldnews.

Scientists observed that the mice use a species-specific genetic marker called the major urinary protein (MUP), with which they are able to identify close relative with their sense of smell. Hence, this contravenes earlier assumptions that animals use vertebrate-wide major histocompatibility complex (MHC) in order to recognise their relatives.

It is amazing that female house mice use the scent so that they can select closely related females as nest partners, in order to help look after their offspring. Humans too use the partnership in order to see that genes are passed on to future generations.

"This work extends far beyond any previous attempt to identify the genetic basis of kin recognition in vertebrates and strongly challenges the current assumption that there is a common kin-recognition mechanism 'inbuilt' into the immune physiology of all vertebrates," said Professor Jane Hurst, from the university's Institute of Integrative Biology and lead author of the study

The study will help us to learn about the evolution of species with similar genetic markers, so that they can recognise relatives and its effect on breeding success.

"We also need to consider the consequences in species that have not evolved these markers -- are they more vulnerable to inbreeding accidentally with relatives that they cannot recognize?" Hurst added. "More widely, a better understanding of the importance of social groupings in populations could also have implications for captive breeding programs and help those managing animals promote better cooperation and social tolerance among animals."

Their study was recently published in the journal Current Biology.