Major urinary proteins do not allow kin recognition in male mice

(University of Veterinary Medicine -- Vienna) Researchers from Vetmeduni Vienna now found evidence that directly refutes this hypothesis. They discovered that the MUP genes of wild house mice show a surprising lack of variability, and rather than providing a stable barcode, individuals dynamically regulate the number of MUP excreted depending upon social context. These findings contradict the widely assumed hypothesis that MUPs control kin recognition. The results were published in Scientific Reports and Molecular Biosystems.
Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science - Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news