Strain-dependent differences in the efficiency of transgenic mouse production

Transgenic mouse production via pronuclear microinjection is a complex process consisting of a number of sequential steps. Many different factors contribute to the effectiveness of each step and thus influence the overall efficiency of transgenic mouse production. The response of egg donor females to superovulation, the fertilization rate, egg survival after injection, ability of manipulated embryos to implant and develop to term, and concentration and purity of the injected DNA all contribute to transgenic production efficiency. We evaluated and compared the efficiency of transgenic mouse production using four different egg donor mouse strains: B6D2/F1 hybrids, Swiss Webster (SW) outbred, and inbred FVB/N and C57BL/6. The data included experiments involving approximately 350 DNA transgene constructs performed by a high capacity core transgenic mouse facility. Significant influences of particular genetic backgrounds on the efficiency of different steps of the production process were found. Except for egg production, FVB/N mice consistently produced the highest efficiency of transgenic mouse production at each step of the process. B6D2/F2 hybrid eggs are also quite efficient, but lyze more frequently than FVB/N eggs after DNA microinjection. SW eggs on the other hand block at the 1-cell stage more often than eggs from the other strains. Finally, using C57BL/6 eggs the main limiting factor is that the fetuses derived from injected eggs do not develop to term as often as the other strains. Based on our studies, the procedure for transgenic mouse production can be modified for each egg donor strain in order to overcome any deficiencies, and thus to increase the overall efficiency of transgenic mouse production.