Resumen

DE JESUS, Rosa. Evaluation of reproductive parameters for genetic contamination in mouse strains inbred.. Bol Mal Salud Amb [online]. 2006, vol.46, n.2, pp.161-168. ISSN 1690-4648.

Inbred strains of mice are used in biomedical research because characteristics such as homozygosis and isogenicity which result from mated brother and sister, descendants of an original pair for more than twenty consecutive generations. The genome integrity of these strains can be altered by genetic contamination, mutations and genetic drift. Genetic contamination is the most common problem affecting the genome of the animals of production colonies. The evaluation of some production factors can be used as warning of genetic contamination. If, after these production factors have been evaluated, it seems that there is genome alteration in the strain, it is advisable to apply any specific laboratory technique. In the present study some of the production parameters of the colonies of inbred strains of mice bred in Venezuela were evaluated; these are: conditions of the animals quarters, reproductive zootechnic parameters; number of offspring per litter. Results of this evaluation led to recommending the analysis of some molecular markers as microsatellites that are the most appropriate technique for this purpose.

Palabras clave : Mouse strains inbred; genetic contamination; reproductive parameters.