Albinism Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Albinism, including details on pigmentation, genetic trait, heritability. | ||||||||
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FVB.129P2-Pde6b(+) Tyr(c-ch)/Ant, a sighted variant of the FVB/N mouse strain suitable for behavioral analysis.Errijgers V, Van Dam D, Gantois I, Van Ginneken CJ, Grossman AW, D'Hooge R, De Deyn PP, Kooy RF Department of Medical Genetics, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. Mice of the FVB/N strain are severely visual impaired as a result of tyrosinase gene defects, leading to a deficiency of the key enzyme for melanin synthesis in skin and eye and of cyclic guanosine monophosphate phosphodiesterase gene defects, which results in albinism (Tyr(c/c)) and retinal degeneration (Pde6b(rd1/rd1)), respectively. Nevertheless, FVB/N mice are commonly used for the generation of transgenic animals because of their large, strong pronuclei and high breeding performance. However, due to visual impairment of the FVB/N animals, the resulting transgenic animals cannot be used in tests that depend on vision, including tests of cognitive behavior. Therefore, we have bred a sighted version of the FVB/N strain by an outcross between FVB/N and 129P2/OlaHsd, followed by repeated backcrosses to FVB/N mice while selecting against albinism and homozygosity of the retinal degeneration mutation. After 11 generations of backcrossing, sighted animals were intercrossed to generate the congenic FVB.129P2-Pde6b(+) Tyr(c-ch)/Ant strain, which is pigmented (Tyr(c-ch)/(c-ch)) and devoid of the genetic predisposition to retinal degeneration. The accurate visual abilities of the FVB.129P2-Pde6b(+) Tyr(c-ch)/Ant mice, for which we propose the name FVBS/Ant, demonstrated a clear visual evoked potential in the presence of normal eye histology and improved performance in the Morris water maze test. Published 16 August 2007 in Genes Brain Behav, 6(6): 552-7.
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