ABSTRACT
The mouse mutation balding (bal) arose spontaneously in inbred mouse strain in 1973. The balding mutation is autosomal recessive and has recently been mapped to Chromosome 18. Affected mice are runted at birth compared to littermates. Hair loss is evident prior to weaning. Bare patches appear on the tops of their heads as well as on other parts of their bodies. An 8-month-old female mouse exhibits generalized alopecia and loss of vibrissae, although hair is more prominent on the distal limbs and ventral skin than dorsally. There appears to be no direct analog based on phenotype or comparative mapping of the mutant gene locus. No domestic animal diseases have been compared to the mouse balding mutation.
