Abstract
The mouse is a prime organism of choice for modelling human disease. Over 450 inbred strains of mice have been described, providing a wealth of different genotypes and phenotypes for genetic and other studies. As new strains are generated and others become extinct, it is useful to review periodically what strains are available and how they are related to each other, particularly in the light of available DNA polymorphism data from microsatellite and other markers. We describe the origins and relationships of inbred mouse strains, 90 years after the generation of the first inbred strain. Given the large collection of inbred strains available, and that published information on these strains is incomplete, we propose that all genealogical and genetic data on inbred strains be submitted to a common electronic database to ensure this valuable information resource is preserved and used efficiently.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
-
Whole genome sequencing of mouse lines divergently selected for fatness (FLI) and leanness (FHI) revealed several genetic variants as candidates for novel obesity genes
Genes & Genomics Open Access 14 March 2024
-
Genome mining shows that retroviruses are pervasively invading vertebrate genomes
Nature Communications Open Access 17 August 2023
-
Derivation of embryonic stem cells from wild-derived mouse strains by nuclear transfer using peripheral blood cells
Scientific Reports Open Access 10 July 2023
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Keeler, C.E. The Laboratory Mouse, its Origin, Heredity, and Culture (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1931).
Ginsburg, B.E. Muroid roots of behavior genetic research: a retrospective. in Techniques for the Genetic Analysis of Brain and Behavior (eds Goldowitz, D., Wahlsten, D. & Wimer, R.E.) 3–14(Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1992).
Morse, H.C. Origins of Inbred Mice (Academic, New York, 1978).
Silver, L.M. Mouse Genetics (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1995).
Staats, J. Nomenclature. in Biology of the Laboratory Mouse (ed. Green, E.L.) 45–50 (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1966).
Klein, J. Biology of the mouse histocompatibility-2 complex. in Principles of Immunogenetics Applied to a Single System (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1975).
Davisson, M.T. Rules for nomenclature of inbred strains. in Genetic Variants and Strains of the Laboratory Mouse (eds Lyon, M.F., Rastan, S. & Brown, S.D.M.) 1532–1536 (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996).
Festing, M.F.W. Inbred strains of mice: a vital resource for biomedical research. Mouse Genome 95, 845–855 (1997).
Staats, J. The laboratory mouse. in Biology of the Laboratory Mouse (ed. Green, E.L.) 1–9 (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1966).
Takeda, T., Hosokawa, M. & Higuchi, K. Senescence-accelerated mouse (SAM); a novel murine model of senescence. Exp. Gerontol. 32, 105– 109 (1997).
Peirce, J.L., Derr, R., Shendure, J., Kolata, T. & Silver, L.M. A major influence of sex-specific loci on alcohol preference in C57Bl/6 and DBA/2 inbred mice. Mamm. Genome 9, 942–948 (1998).
Taketo, M. et al. FVB/N: an inbred mouse strain preferable for transgenic analyses . Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 88, 2065– 2069 (1991).
Crawley, J.N. et al.Behavioral phenotypes of inbred mouse strains: implications and recommendations for molecular studies. Psychopharmacology 132, 107–124 (1997).
Martin, J.E. & Fisher, E.M.C. Phenotypic analysis—making the most of your mouse. Trends Genet. 13, 254–256 (1997).
Bonhomme, F. & Guenet, J.L. The laboratory mouse and its wild relatives. in Genetic Variants and Strains of the Laboratory Mouse (eds Lyon, M.F., Rastan, S. & Brown, S.D.M.) 1577– 1596 (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996).
Darvasi, A. Experimental strategies for the genetic dissection of complex traits in animal models. Nature Genet. 18, 19– 24 (1998).
Todd, J.A. From genome to aetiology in a multifactorial disease, type 1 diabetes. Bioessays 21, 164–174 ( 1999).
Talbot, C.J. et al. High-resolution mapping of quantitative trait loci in outbred mice . Nature Genet. 21, 305– 308 (1999).
Potter, M. & Klein, J. in Inbred and Genetically Defined Strains of Laboratory Animals. Vol. 1, Mouse and Rat (eds Altman, P.L. & Katz, D.D.) 16–17 (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, Bethesda, 1979).
Festing, M.F.W. Inbred Strains in Biomedical Research (Macmillan, London, 1979).
Festing, M.F.W. & Roderick, T.H. Correlation between genetic distances based on single loci and on skeletal morphology in inbred mice. Genet. Res. 53, 45– 55 (1989).
Hilgers, J. et al. Esterase alleles of inbred mouse strains maintained in the Netherlands . Genet. Res. 51, 29–40 (1988).
Taylor, B.A. Genetic relationship between inbred strains of mice. J. Hered. 63, 83–86 ( 1972).
Atchley, W.R. & Fitch, W. Gene trees and origins of inbred strains of mice. Science 254, 554– 558 (1991).
Fowlis, G.A., Adelman, S., Knight, A.M. & Simpson, E. PCR-analyzed microsatellites of the mouse genome—additional polymorphisms among ten inbred mouse strains. Mamm. Genome 3, 192–196 (1992).
Routman, E.J. & Cheverud, J.M. Polymorphism for PCR-analyzed microsatellites between the inbred mouse strains LG and SM. Mamm. Genome 6, 401–404 ( 1995).
Matouk, C., Gosselin, D., Malo, D., Skamene, E. & Radzioch, D. PCR-analyzed microsatellites for the inbred mouse strain 129/Sv, the strain most commonly used in gene knockout technology. Mamm. Genome 7, 603–605 (1996).
Slingsby, J.H., Hogarth, M.B., Simpson, E., Walport, M.J. & Morley, B.J. New microsatellite polymorphisms identified between C57BL/6, C57BL/10, and C57BL/KsJ inbred mouse strains. Immunogenetics 43, 72–75 (1996).
Neuhaus, I.M., Sommardahl, C.S., Johnson, D.K. & Beier, D.R. Microsatellite DNA variants between the FVB/N and C3HeB/FeJLe and C57BL/6J mouse strains. Mamm. Genome 8, 506– 509 (1997).
Panoutsakopoulou, V., et al. Microsatellite typing of CXB recombinant inbred and parental mouse strains. Mamm. Genome 8, 357– 361 (1997).
Matin, A. et al. Simple sequence length polymorphisms (SSLPs) that distinguish MOLF/Ei and 129/Sv inbred strains of laboratory mice. Mamm. Genome 9, 668–670 (1998).
Maronpot, R.R., Witschi, H.P., Smith, L.H. & McCoy, J.L. Recent experience with the strain A mouse pulmonary adenoma bioassay. Environ. Sci. Res. 27, 341–349 (1983).
Festing, M.F.W. A case for using inbred strains of laboratory animals in evaluating the safety of drugs. Food Cosmet. Toxicol. 13, 369– 375 (1975).
Le Voyer, T.E. & Hunter, K.W. Microsatellite DNA variants among the FVB/NJ, C58/J and I/LnJ mouse strains. Mamm. Genome 10, 542–543 (1999).
McClive, P.J., Huang, D. & Morahan, G. C57BL/6 and C57BL/10 inbred mouse strains differ at multiple loci on chromosome 4. Immunogenetics 39, 286–288 (1994).
Atchley, W.R. & Fitch, W. Genetic affinities of inbred mouse strains of uncertain origin. Mol. Biol. Evol. 10, 1150–1169 (1993).
Simpson, E.M. et al. Genetic variation among 129 substrains and its importance for targeted mutagenesis in mice. Nature Genet. 16, 19 –27 (1997).
Carlson, G.A. et al.Genetics and polymorphism of the mouse prion gene complex: control of scrapie incubation time. Mol. Cell. Biol. 8, 5528–5540 (1988).
Fitch, W.M. & Atchley, W.R. Evolution in inbred strains of mice appears to be rapid. Science 228, 1169 –1175 (1985).
Atchley, W.R. & Fitch, W. Gene trees and origins of inbred strains of mice. Science 254, 554– 558 (1991).
Cui, S., Chesson, C. & Hope, R. Genetic variation within and between strains of outbred Swiss mice. Lab. Anim. 27, 116– 123 (1993).
Festing, M.F.W. Origins and characteristics of inbred strains of mice. in Genetic Variants and Strains of the Laboratory Mouse (eds Lyon, M.F., Rastan, S. & Brown, S.D.M.) 1537–1576 (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996).
Russell, E.S. A history of mouse genetics. Annu. Rev. Genet. 19, 1–28 (1985).
Bonhomme, F., Guenet, J.L., Dod, B., Moriwaki, K. & Bulfield, G. The polyphyletic origin of laboratory inbred mice and their rate of evolution. J. Linnean Soc. 30, 51–58 (1987).
Blake, J.A., Richardson, J.E., Davisson, M.T. & Eppig, J.T. The Mouse Genome Database (MGD): genetic and genomic information about the laboratory mouse. Nucleic Acids Res. 27, 95–98 (1999).
Acknowledgements
We thank all members of the mouse community who supplied information on inbred strains, particularly, J. Staats, P.W. Lane, E.M. Eicher, R. Elliot, J. Forejt, D. Juriloff, E. Leiter, C. Linder, T. Monique, K. Moore, L. Morel, O. Niwa, G. Raisman, D. Tabaczynski and G. Wolff. J.A.B., S.L. and M.H. are supported by the UK Medical Research Council; J.T.E. and M.L.-P. are supported by NIH grant HG00330.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Supplementary information
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Beck, J., Lloyd, S., Hafezparast, M. et al. Genealogies of mouse inbred strains. Nat Genet 24, 23–25 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/71641
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/71641
This article is cited by
-
Whole genome sequencing of mouse lines divergently selected for fatness (FLI) and leanness (FHI) revealed several genetic variants as candidates for novel obesity genes
Genes & Genomics (2024)
-
A genetic locus complements resistance to Bordetella pertussis-induced histamine sensitization
Communications Biology (2023)
-
Genome mining shows that retroviruses are pervasively invading vertebrate genomes
Nature Communications (2023)
-
Derivation of embryonic stem cells from wild-derived mouse strains by nuclear transfer using peripheral blood cells
Scientific Reports (2023)
-
From depressed mice to depressed patients: a less “standardized” approach to improving translation
Biology & Philosophy (2023)