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. 2021 Jan 7;2(1):tgaa096. doi: 10.1093/texcom/tgaa096

Figure 1 .

Figure 1

Behaviors of Ndel1 CKO mice in species-specific tasks. (A) Nest building: Ndel1 CKO mice, heterozygous CKO, and WT littermates were monitored for their ability to build nest around 5–8 weeks of age, after cage change. Representative photographs of nests built by mice with the respective genotypes 24–48 h after cage change. The Ndel1 CKO failed to build their nest. This phenotype was highly penetrant and observed in more than 95% of the Ndel1 CKO analyzed. A total of 120 mice were monitored for this phenotype over a period of ~5 years. The bar graph depicts the relative area with bedding material in the cages of WT, Het and CKO mice. Mean ± SD, ***P<0.005, NS: nonsignificant. N = 3–8 mice, average age: ~7 weeks. (B) In-cage behavioral ethograms for the 2 WT, 2 Het, and 2 CKO shown in (A) and Supplementary Videos 1–6. The ethograms illustrate the 4 mutually exclusive behaviors (sitting, walking, rearing, hiding under nesting material) displayed by the mice at each time point over 300 s. The graphs show the cumulative time each mouse engaged in 1 of the 4 behaviors. (C) Y maze: During the 600 s acquisition of the Y maze mice of all three genotypes (WT, Het, and CKO) spent equivalent amounts of time in zones one and two. During the 300 s retention trial Ndel1 CKO mice spent significantly less time in the novel zone. Mean ± SD, *P<0.05. (D) Open Field: Representative examples of paths taken by a WT and a CKO mouse during 300 s in the open field and quantification of the total time spent as well as the time spent in the outer, middle, and center zones. Ndel1 CKO mice spent significantly longer in the center zone compared to the other two genotypes. Quantification of the total distance traveled as well as the distance traveled in the outer, middle and center zones. Ndel1 CKO mice traveled significantly less distance than WT and Het mice. Mean ± SD, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. (E) Forced swim: Ndel1 CKO mice spent significantly more time climbing and significantly less time floating than the other two genotypes (WT and Het). Mean ± SD, **P < 0.01. (F) Dry cylinder: Ndel1 CKO mice spent less time touching the walls (more time not touching the walls) compared with the other two genotypes. Mean ± SD, *P < 0.05. 7 mice of each genotype were subjected to the tests in (B-E) at 7 weeks of age.