Effect of B2m gene disruption on MHC-determined odortypes

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes confer individual olfactory identity that can be detected with exquisite accuracy by mice. The fact that MHC genes themselves generate the characteristic odortype, rather than dedicated odor-determining genes, was supported in studies of point mutations in H2K and HLA transgenic mice, which evinced distinct odor profiles in olfactory assays. In this article we provide further evidence for a central role of MHC genes themselves in odortype specification by demonstrating that mice that are unable to express their genomic class I MHC genes because they lack beta(2)-microglobulin are distinguishable by scent from otherwise identical mice which possess an intact B2m gene. This odortype disparity appears at 9-12 days of gestational age, the period in which the MHC is first detectable in fetal cells of normal mice.