Genetic variation of amylases in deer mice

The inheritance of salivary amylase variants in the deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus, is controlled by codominant alleles, Amy-1a, Amy-1b, and Amy-1c, at a single autosomal locus. Pancreatic amylases were invariant and unaffected by salivary amylase genotypes. Salivary amylase zymograms of five myomorphic rodents are compared and evolutionary implications are discussed.