Mouse DNA ‘fingerprints’: analysis of chromosome localization and germ-line stability of hypervariable loci in recombinant inbred strains

TLDR

Human minisatellite probes cross‑hybridize to mouse DNA, revealing multiple variable loci. The authors mapped at least 13 hypervariable loci in BXD recombinant inbred mice, assigning 8 to specific chromosomes. The DNA fingerprints differ markedly between inbred strains yet are stable within strains; the 13 loci are autosomal and dispersed, with one complex minisatellite and another highly unstable locus offering a model for studying minisatellite variation.

Abstract

Human minisatellite probes cross-hybridize to mouse DNA and detect multiple variable loci. The resulting DNA “fingerprints” vary substantially between inbred strains but relatively little within an inbred strain. By studying the segregation of variable DNA fragments in BXD recombinant inbred strains of mice, at Ieast 13 hypervariable loci were defined, 8 of which could be regionally assigned to mouse chromosomes. The assigned loci are autosomal, dispersed and not preferentially associated with centromeres or telomeres. One of these minisatellites is complex, with alleles 90 kb or more long and with internal restriction endonuclease cleavage sites which produce a minisatellite “haplotype” of multiple cosegregating fragments. In addition, one locus shows extreme germ-line instability and should provide a useful system for studying more directly the rates and processes of allelic variation of minisatellites.