Importance of Biochemical Marker Genes in Inbred Strains of Mice

Some Problems on Checking Genetic Purity of Inbred Strains

Abstract

In order to check genetic purity of inbred strains of mice, we surveyed five biochemical variants in certain 69 strains, some of which had established from Japanese fancy mice. The loci examined were Hemoglobin beta-chain, Malic enzyme (supernatant form), Isocitrate dehydrogenase (supernatant form), Serum esterase-1, and Serum esterase-2. These loci were all in homozygous states as far as examined, however, some subline divergences were found in a few strains, that is to say, sublines were found to be fixed with different alleles at some loci. Importance of biochemical marker genes to check genetic purity of strains and several derived problems are mentioned.