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

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.

Elucidating the characteristics of Mx1 and resistance to influenza A virus subtype H1N1 in the newly developed KWM/Hym mice

“…However, wild-derived CAST/EiJ mice carrying two amino acid changes in the Mx1 restriction factor exhibit high susceptibility to influenza A [ 13 , 14 ]. The wild mice captured in South Korea have mixed genetic components of M. m. molossinus and M. m. musculus [ 15 , 16 ]. KWM/Hym mice, a new strain developed from the wild mice captured from the Chuncheon city in Korea, show a 96.4% similarity with PWK/Phj in single nucleotide polymorphism analysis [ 16 ].…”

“…The wild mice captured in South Korea have mixed genetic components of M. m. molossinus and M. m. musculus [ 15 , 16 ]. KWM/Hym mice, a new strain developed from the wild mice captured from the Chuncheon city in Korea, show a 96.4% similarity with PWK/Phj in single nucleotide polymorphism analysis [ 16 ]. However, the sequence of the Mx1 gene, the functional features of Mx1 protein, and whether Mx1 can provide resistance to influenza A virus in the KWM/Hym mice have not been reported yet.…”

Native Korean wild mice (Mus musculus): molecular phylogeny and morphometrics

“…Numbers in the figure indicate data from the references as shown in Table 4: P1-P3 [this study], (A) [4], (B) [3], (C) [5], (1, 5, and 7-15) [2], (2, 6, and 16) [8], (3, 4, and 19) [17], (17 and 18) [18], (20 and 21) [14], (22) [9], (23-25) [10], (26 and 27) [11]. …”

“…In contrast, the typical tail length of MUS and MOL is shorter than the head and body length [2], which aligns with all our observations, including the Korean mice ( Fig 7). 4: P1-P3 [this study], (A) [4], (B) [3], (C) [5], (1, 5, and 7-15) [2], (2, 6, and 16) [8], (3, 4, and 19) [17], (17 and 18) [18], (20 and 21) [14], (22) [9], (23)(24)(25) [10], (26 and 27) [11]. We measured linear distances between specific landmark points on the cranium (boundaries between different skull bones) from 3D micro-CT images to characterize the craniometric structure of Korean mice (Figs 3 and 4).…”

“…However, this classification based on subtle morphological variations remains controversial, as it may not accurately reflect the true evolutionary relationships (phylogeny) of these mice. Given that MUS in East Eurasia might have entered the Korean Peninsula from northern China, with human immigration presumably facilitating its geographical dispersal [6,7], the question remains whether the assigned subspecies of mice truly reflect their taxonomic positions [8][9][10][11][12][13][14].…”