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Fig. 1 | BMC Biology

Fig. 1

From: Individual odour signatures that mice learn are shaped by involatile major urinary proteins (MUPs)

Fig. 1

Individual airborne odour signatures correlate with MUP phenotype. A Bioassay of individual airborne signature recognition. After contact with 10 μl of male urine (learned template) and 10 μl of female urine (control) for 30 min, female wild-stock mice were tested with airborne odour in a different arena. B, D Difference in time under the male test compared to female control stimulus (mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM)). Recognition was assessed as more time near the male test stimulus than the female control, using matched pair t tests of log transformed data ((a) t11 = 4.06, p = 0.0009; (b) t11 = − 0.18, p = 0.57; (c) t11 = 2.95, p = 0.007; (d) t11 = 2.54, p = 0.014; (e) t11 = − 1.13, p = 0.86; (g) t19 = 2.89, p = 0.0047; (h) t19 = 1.38, p = 0.092) or non-parametric Wilcoxon signed rank tests ((f) z = − 0.68, p = 0.74, n = 15; (i) z = 2.46, p = 0.006, n = 20). C Examples of typical MUP patterns revealed by ESI-MS of urine from wild-stock males for four unrelated males (left) or two sets of four brothers (numbers or letters denote MUP haplotypes). The intensity of each mass peak is expressed relative to the highest peak in the spectrum. Brothers of the same MUP type (same colour) have extremely similar profiles. Dashed lines indicate masses predicted by one or more central Mup genes present in the B6 reference genome (masses 18,645, 18,665, 18,682, 18,694, 18,708, 18,713 Da) or darcin (18,893 Da), though only a subset of these is expressed in common laboratory strains (see Fig. 2). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.005, ****p < 0.001

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