ABSTRACT
As in human populations, physical activity can represent a range of behaviors in animal models. Consequently, context matters when discussing the genetic regulation of physical activity. For example, assessing exercise endurance in rodents typically utilizes forced running on a motorized treadmill equipped with a shock grid for a negative stimulus. To date, numerous, quantitative trait loci (QTL) which are chromosomal regions correlating with variation in a phenotype, have been mapped for a variety of physical activity traits utilizing several different mouse models. Regardless of the exact physical activity trait or mouse model, the ultimate goal of these studies is to identify specific genes and mutations within these regions controlling the behavior of interest. More commonplace than eQTL approaches is the examination of the global transcriptome using mouse models exhibiting discordant phenotypes. Significant differential gene expression between groups with different phenotypes is then used to prioritize potential candidate genes underlying the phenotype.
