These mutants were identified through head tilt, body leaning and circling behavior which can be detected at wean. ABR testing at 5-6 weeks of age showed these mutants also to be deaf at every frequency tested (click, 8, 16, 32kHz). Male or female mutants have been produced, and a colony can be maintained through normal breeding. Because of the phenotype and the map position of this mutation, a complementation test with Lhfpl5hscy (Stock No. 004640) has been performed; the results of two homozygote by heterozygote matings, i.e. 7 mutants in a total of 12 progeny, confirmed that nmf430 indeed represents an allele of Lhfpl5. Standard pathology work-up on one mutant (265 days of age) showed no abnormalities, however, serial sections of the ears revealed a loss of both ganglionic cells and the organ of corti (to view a section of control tissue, see Zheng et al., 2005).
