Inheritance of a Cardiac Arterial Asymmetry in Mice

Abstract

A pair of coronary arteries supplies the interventricular septum of the heart of Mus musculus. The members of this pair tend to be of unequal size, which permits distiniction between specimens displaying left asymmetry and those showing righit asymmetry. Three inbred strains (C57BL/1O, DBA/1, and Bulb/c) differ with regard to this asymmetry. However, variation exists within strains, which suggests that nongenetic factors also influence the development of the asymmetry. Right arterial asymmetry is dominant over left asymmetry.