Strain-dependent concentration imbalances exert relatively mild effects on VSN population response homogeneity.
Comparison of male C57BL/6 generalist VSN response preferences, upon stimulation with paired urine stimuli from different strains, with strain-dependent concentration imbalances among VOCs and proteins, respectively. (a&b) Response index histograms (top rows) depict distributions of generalist data outlined in Figure 3 (gray bars). With one exception (a (right), male BALB/c versus male wild), histograms are well fitted by single Gaussian curves (dashed lines) that each center relatively close to zero (a (left), peak = 0.08, σ = 0.18; a (middle), peak = −0.11, σ = 0.21; a (right), 1st peak = −0.12, 1st σ = 0.14; 2nd peak = 0.21, 2nd σ = 0.09; b (left), peak = 0.07, σ = 0.12; b (middle), peak = 0.03, σ = 0.23; b (right), peak = 0.05, σ = 0.18). Concentration index histograms (middle & bottom rows), calculated for VOCs (yellow) and proteins (red) found in both tested urine samples, are more heterogeneous. Notably, while most VOC concentration index histograms are also fitted by single, albeit broader Gaussian curves (a (left), peak = −0.07, σ = 0.37; a (middle), peak = 0.02, σ = 0.45; a (right), 1st peak = 0.07, 1st σ = 0.32; 2nd peak = 0.64, 2nd σ = 0.06; b (left), peak = 0.15, σ = 0.29; b (middle), peak = 0.21, σ = 0.35; b (right), peak = −0.01, σ = 0.42), protein concentration imbalances are not normally distributed.