The Rd8 mutation of the Crb1 gene is present in vendor lines of C57BL/6N mice and embryonic stem cells, and confounds ocular induced mutant phenotypes.

Abstract

We noted an unexpected inheritance pattern of lesions in several strains of gene-manipulated mice with ocular phenotypes. The lesions, which appeared at various stages of backcross to C57BL/6, bore resemblance to the rd8 retinal degeneration phenotype. We set out to examine the prevalence of this mutation in induced mutant mouse lines, vendor C57BL/6 mice and in widely used embryonic stem cells.