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Brandon M. Nathan, Craig A. Hodges, Pamela J. Supelak, Lindsay C. Burrage, Joseph H. Nadeau, Mark R. Palmert, A Quantitative Trait Locus on Chromosome 6 Regulates the Onset of Puberty in Mice, Endocrinology, Volume 147, Issue 11, 1 November 2006, Pages 5132–5138, https://doi.org/10.1210/en.2006-0745
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Puberty is a fundamental developmental process experienced by all reproductively competent adults, yet the specific factors that regulate variation in its timing remain elusive. Using a new approach to identifying these factors, we have performed a survey among a panel of chromosome substitution strains (for inbred strains C57BL/6J and A/J) followed by linkage analysis to map a quantitative trait locus (QTL) on the distal end of chromosome 6 that regulates pubertal timing (as assessed by vaginal opening) in mice. The location of the QTL was then refined to a region between marker D6MIT59 and the end of the chromosome by generating and phenotyping a panel of 12 congenic strains, each with a unique and overlapping homozygous segment of the A/J chromosome on an otherwise uniform C57BL/6J genomic background. Additional characterization of the QTL indicated that the effects of the responsible gene(s) are gender specific and inherited in a codominant manner without parent-of-origin effects. These findings represent an important advancement toward identification of novel factors that regulate maturation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and determine the timing of puberty.