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Genetic and morphometric characteristics of Korean wild mice (KWM/Hym) captured at Chuncheon, South Korea

Laboratory Animal Research volume 34, pages 311–316 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Laboratory inbred mice are used widely and commonly in biomedical research, but inbred mice do not have a big enough gene pool for the research. In this study, genetic and morphometric analyses were performed to obtain data on the characteristics of a newly developing inbred strain (KWM/Hym) captured from Chuncheon, Korea. All of five Korean wild male mice have the zinc-finger Y (ZfY) gene. Also, all of 19 Korean wild mice used in this analysis have the AKV-type murine leukemia virus gene, indicating that Korean wild mice might be Mus musculus musculus. To identify the genetic polymorphism in KWM/Hym, SNP analysis was performed. In a comparison with 28 SNP markers, there was a considerable difference between KWM/Hym and several inbred strains. The homogeneity between KWM/Hym and the inbred strains was as follows: C57BL/6J (39.3%), BALB/c AJic (42.9%), and DBA/2J (50%). KWM/Hym is most similar to the PWK/PhJ inbred strain (96.4%) derived from wild mice (Czech Republic). To identify the morphometric characteristics of KWM/Hym, the external morphology was measured. The tail ratio of male and female was 79.60±3.09 and 73.55±6.14%, respectively. KWM/Hym has short and agouti-colored hairs and its belly is white with golden hair. Taking these results together, KWM/Hym, a newly developing inbred mouse originated from wild mouse, might be use as new genetic resources to overcome the limitations of the current laboratory mice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Genetics, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Chuncheon, Gangwon, 24252, Korea

    Hajin Nam, Yoo Yeon Kim, Boyoung Kim & Jun Gyo Suh

  2. Laboratory Animal Resource Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), Cheongju, Korea

    Won Kee Yoon & Hyoung-Chin Kim

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  1. Hajin Nam
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  2. Yoo Yeon Kim
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  3. Boyoung Kim
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Correspondence to Jun Gyo Suh.

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Nam, H., Kim, Y.Y., Kim, B. et al. Genetic and morphometric characteristics of Korean wild mice (KWM/Hym) captured at Chuncheon, South Korea. Lab Anim Res 34, 311–316 (2018). https://doi.org/10.5625/lar.2018.34.4.311

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