The genus Mus consists of many species with high genetic diversity. However, only one species, Mus musculus (the laboratory mouse), is common in biomedical research. The unavailability of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) for other Mus species might be a major reason for their limited use in laboratories. Here, we devised ARTs for Mus spretus (the Algerian mouse), a commonly used wild-derived Mus species. We found that in vitro production of M. spretus embryos was difficult because of low efficacies of superovulation with equine chorionic gonadotropin or anti-inhibin serum (AIS) (5–8 oocytes per female) and a low fertilization rate following in vitro fertilization (IVF; 15.2%). The primary cause of this was the hardening of the zona pellucida but not the sperm’s fertilizing ability, as revealed by reciprocal IVF with laboratory mice. The largest number of embryos (16 per female) were obtained when females were injected with AIS followed by human chorionic gonadotropin and estradiol injections 24 h later, and then by natural mating. These in vivo-derived 2-cell embryos could be vitrified/warmed with a high survival rate (94%) using an ethylene glycol-based solution. Importantly, more than 60% of such embryos developed into healthy offspring following interspecific embryo transfer into (C57BL/6 × C3H) F1 female mice. Thus, we have devised practical ARTs for Mus spretus mice, enabling efficient production of embryos and animals, with safe laboratory preservation of their strains. In addition, we have demonstrated that interspecific embryo transfer is possible in murine rodents.

中文翻译：

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小家鼠辅助生殖技术的发展

Mus属由许多具有高度遗传多样性的物种组成。然而，只有一种，Mus musculus（实验室小鼠），在生物医学研究中很常见。其他Mus物种无法获得辅助生殖技术 (ARTs)可能是其在实验室中使用有限的主要原因。在这里，我们设计的艺术亩spretus（阿尔及利亚鼠标），常用的野生衍生亩种。我们发现M. spretus 的体外生产由于使用马绒毛膜促性腺激素或抗抑制素血清 (AIS)（每名雌性 5-8 个卵母细胞）的超排卵效率低以及体外受精（IVF；15.2%）后的低受精率，很难获得胚胎。造成这种情况的主要原因是透明带变硬，而不是精子的受精能力，正如实验室小鼠的相互体外受精所揭示的那样。当雌性注射 AIS 后，24 小时后注射人绒毛膜促性腺激素和雌二醇，然后自然交配，获得的胚胎数量最多（每只雌性 16 个）。这些体内衍生的 2 细胞胚胎可以使用基于乙二醇的溶液以高存活率 (94%) 进行玻璃化/加热。重要的，在种间胚胎移植到 (C57BL/6 × C3H) F1 雌性小鼠中后，超过 60% 的此类胚胎发育成健康的后代。因此，我们设计了实用的 ARTMus spretus小鼠，能够有效地生产胚胎和动物，并对其品系进行安全的实验室保存。此外，我们已经证明在鼠类啮齿动物中种间胚胎移植是可能的。