Stable long-term germ-line transmission of transgene integration sites in mice.
Transgenic mice provide a valuable tool in all fields of basic and applied biological and medical research. In this study, we describe the fate of integrated transgenes in the mammalian host genome over a large number of generations. The stability of the germ-line transmission of integrated tyrosinase transgene copies was monitored up to generation F20 in a large number of individuals from seven transgenic mouse lines. Phenotypic and molecular genetic analysis of the offspring both within the different lines and in cross-breeding experiments revealed the high stability of the transgene integration sites in mice. Only very few individuals were affected by a transgene copy loss. These results indicate that, once homozygous transgenic lines are established, breeding programs can be continued to a high number of generations without further stringent molecular genetic analysis.
Aigner
B
B
Institut für Tierzucht und Genetik, Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien, Austria.
Fleischmann
M
M
Müller
M
M
Brem
G
G
D000818:Animals; D001947:Breeding; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D006720:Homozygote; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic / Q000235:genetics*; D014442:Monophenol Monooxygenase / Q000235:genetics; D010641:Phenotype; D019076:Transgenes
D014442:Monophenol Monooxygenase