通过交叉抚育建立同巢同胞、同巢非同胞、异巢同胞和异巢非同胞个体组成的室内繁殖种群,在断奶后(80日龄)分别取这些供体的新鲜尿作刺激物,在吕字型观察箱中观察和记录雌性根田鼠对雄鼠气味的行为响应,以研究根田鼠同胞识别的化学通讯机制。结果表明:(1)成年雌性根田鼠对雄性同巢同胞气味的接近潜伏期极显著短于对同巢非同胞气味的接近潜伏期(P〈0.01),而其对两者的访问时间和嗅舔时间之间的差异并不显著(P〉0.05);(2)雌鼠对雄性异巢同胞和异巢非同胞气味无明显偏好。其对两者的接近潜伏期、访问时间和嗅舔时间等行为响应均无显著差异(P〉0.05);(3)雌鼠对雄性同巢非同胞和异巢非同胞的接近潜伏期差异并不明显(P〉0.05),对两者访问时间和嗅舔时间的差别不大(P〉0.05);(4)比较雌鼠对异巢同胞和同巢同胞气味的行为响应发现,其对后者的接近潜伏期显著短于前者(P〈0.05),其对两者访问时间、嗅舔时间之间的差异未达到显著水平(P〉0.05)。这些结果表明,80日龄时,雌性根田鼠具有亲属识别能力,其同胞识别的机制可能为共生熟悉和表型匹配两种模式协同作用。
The laboratory population, which include sibling reared together ( SRT ), non-sibling reared together ( NSRT ), sibling reared apart ( SRA ), and non-sibling reared apart ( NSRA ), was founded by cross-fostering method. We assessed behavioral responses of female root voles to urine odors from familiar and unfamiliar kin and non-kin to investigate mechanisms of sibling recognition by odor cues. The results showed that : ( 1 ) The approach latency of female root voles was significantly shorter to male SRT than to NSRT ( P 〈 0. 01 ). There were no differences in visit duration ( P 〉 0. 05 ) and sniff duration ( P 〉 0. 05 ) between SRT and NSRT, respectively. ( 2 ) The behavioral responses of females to urine odors from male SRA and NSRA indicated that they had no bias to the odor of SRA or NSRA. The differences in approach latency, visit duration and sniff duration between SRT and SRA were insignificant ( P 〉 0. 05 ). ( 3 ) There were insignificant differences in all behavioral patterns, which include approach latency, visit and sniff duration, by females in response to male NSRT and NSRA ( P 〉 0. 05 ). ( 4 ) There was significant difference in approach latency between SRT and SRA ( P 〈 0. 05 ). The differences in visit and sniff duration between SRT and SRA were insignificant ( P 〉 0. 05 ). In conclusion, at 80 ages in days, female voles adopt a multiple pattern of mechanism for sibling recognition, which included both association and phenotype matching.