Submitted on September 23, 2007
Accepted on January 16, 2008
Functional polymorphisms in inbred rat strains and their allele frequencies in commercially available outbred stocks
Takashi Kuramoto1*, Satoshi Nakanishi1, and Tadao Serikawa1
1 Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: tkuramot{at}anim.med.kyoto-u.ac.jp.
Polymorphisms that have been proved to influence gene functions are called functional polymorphisms. It is significant to know the distribution of functional polymorphisms in the rat, widely used in animal models for human diseases. In this study, we assessed 16 functional polymorphisms consisting of 3 coat-color and 13 disease-associated genes in 136 rat strains, as a part of the genetic profiling program of the National Bio Resource Project for the Rat (NBRP-Rat). Polymorphisms of Cdkn1a, Fcgr3, Grp10, Lss, and Fdft1, which were proved to function in prostate tumorigenesis, glomerulonephritis, hyperphagia, and cholesterol biosynthesis, were shared among various inbred strains. These findings indicated that most rat strains harbored the disease-associated alleles and suggested that many unidentified functional polymorphisms might exist in rat inbred strains. The functional polymorphisms shared in inbred strains were also observed within outbred stocks available commercially. Therefore, it would be implied that experimental plans based on either rat inbred strains or outbred stocks need to be carefully designed with a full understanding of the genetic characteristics of the animals. To select the most suitable strains for experiments, the NBRP-Rat will periodically improve and update the genetic profiles of rat strains.
