lab and exotics - lab animal breeds

rat - Wistar

strain name - Wistar

synonym - Blk:Wistar

colour - albino

characteristics:

• good model for long term studies

• easy to handle, docile

• median life span, exceeds 50 months (long for rats)

rat - Sprague Dawley

colour - albino

characteristics:

• litter average: 10.5

• docile

• most widely used outbred rat in animal research

• excellent reproductive performance and maternal characteristics

rat - Lewis

colour - albino

characteristics:

• litter average: 7.5

• docile

• inbred partner for several congenic strains

• used in transplantation research, induced arthritis and diabetes

• sensitive to the development of a number of autoimmune diseases

rat - Lister Hooded

colour - black and white

characteristics:

• a little smaller breed than the other species used in research

• vision is less sensitive than the albino breeds

• susceptible to audiogenic seizures

mouse - C57BL/6/Bkl

strain name - C57BL/6/Bkl

synonym - Black/6; B6; C57 Black

colour - black

characteristics:

• good reproductive performance

• used for transgenic / knockout model development, diet induced obesity and immunology

mouse - BALB/c/Bkl

strain name - BALB/c/Bkl

colour - albino

characteristics:

• emit certain pheromones which could have an effect on other strains of mice within a close distance

• used as a general purpose inbred strain in many different disciplines

• used in hybridoma development (hybrid cell used to produce large amounts of antibodies for therapeutic or diagnostic use)

• good breeding performance and long reproductive life span

• high intrastrain aggression, especially in the adult male

• easy to handle, more docile than some other breeds

SCID mouse

colour - available as hairless for tumor growth

characteristics:

• scid (severely compromised immunodeficiency mutation has been transferred onto a non-obese diabetic mouse background)

• animals homozygous for the scid mutation are immunodeficient due to a block in T and B-cell lymphcyte development

nude mouse

colour - hairless

characteristics:

• a mouse with a genetic mutation that has a deteriorated or removed thymus gland, resulting in an inhibited immune system due to a greatly reduced number of T-cells

• phenotype, or main outward appearance of the mouse is a lack of body hair, which gives it the “nude” nickname

Hartley guinea pig

colour - white

characteristics:

• very docile species but may stampede if frightened

• may be housed in tubs as they cannot jump or climb

IAF hairless guinea pig

colour - hairless on albino background

characteristics:

• natural mutation in Hartley population identified in 1978 and bred

• immunocompetent

• used in dermatology

Mongolian gerbil

colour - agouti with black

characteristics:

• litter average: 4.5

• docile

• low water requirement and highly concentrated urine makes it useful as a model in endocrine studies

• susceptible to high serum and hepatic cholesterol levels, thus used in extensively lipid metabolism studies

Syrian hamster

colour - golden/tan

characteristics:

• litter average: 9.0

• excellent reproductive performance

• relatively free from spontaneous disease, but susceptible to induced pathogens

• physiological characteristics of cheek pouches make it an ideal site for evaluating the carcinogenic potential of substances

rabbit - New Zealand white (NZW)

colour - albino

characteristics:

• most commonly used research rabbit

• general multipurpose research model

• breed originally raised for meat

rabbit - New Zealand red

colour - reddish brown

characteristics:

• a non-albino phenotype of the NZW

• a better alternative is the albino variance presents an issue (ex. light sensitive)

• less availability as a purpose bred research animal then the NZW

rabbit - Californians

colour - black and white

characteristics:

• raised for meat and fur

• good mother with large litters (8-10 kits)

• generally available as a random source model

rabbit - Flemish giant

colour - non albino type, 7 different colour variations

characteristics:

• largest rabbit breed (15-22lbs)

• docile and easily handled

• raised for meat, fur, and as a domestic pet

• generally available as a random source model

dog - beagles

colour - tricolour

characteristics:

• small enough to be easily handled and housed but large enough to easily perform procedures

• due to long background raised as working hunting dogs they do very well in a kennel environment with conspecifics

• used in both vet and human research when controlled breed to breed variables needed in a canine model precluding random source dogs

• available as a purpose bred animal