FIGURE 2.

Phenotypic assessment of male mice of mouse line pbd-02. A, weight gain of QC^+/+, QC^+/−, and QC^−/− mice. QC^−/− mice display a tendency to be smaller, but gain in weight is virtually identical to that in wild type and heterozygous QC knock-out mice (n = 7–12, mean ± S.E. (error bars)). B–D, behavioral phenotyping data from a fully automated home cage assessment of young adult mice (age 4 months, n = 8 mice/group; bar graphs, mean ± S.E. for 136 h. The consumption of food and water (B), locomotor activity patterns during 12-h light/12-h dark cycles (C), and also the total distance moved within the period of investigation (D) was virtually identical among all groups. E, assessment of motor function and learning in a rotarod trial. No differences are observed in the consecutive trial analysis and the best trial analysis (inset) (4 months, n = 8–12 mice/genotype, mean ± S.E.). F, evaluation of general motor function in a pole test paradigm. In accordance to the findings in the rotarod and automated phenotyping, no differences were observed between the groups (n = 8–12, mean ± S.E.). G and H, analysis of cognitive performance of QC^+/+, QC^+/−, and QC^−/− mice in a fear conditioning paradigm. Freezing times were analyzed in response to re-exposure to the context of conditioning (G) and following the cue (H) (tone), reflecting associative learning. Differences between genotype groups did not reach statistical significance (n = 8–12, age 4.5 months, mean ± S.E.).