Inbred Strains of Rabbits

Abstract

According to Fox (1974), the need for uniform research stocks of the rabbit was first recognised by Castle in 1922, in his studies of colour inheritance. However, the collection of inbred strains of rabbits now held at The Jackson Laboratory, which is easily the largest collection of such material in the world, was not initiated until 1929. At that time P. B. Sawin took a chinchilla stock of unknown origin with him to the Bussey Institute. This stock was outcrossed and eventually gave rise to the AX/J strain in 1943. He also obtained from Castle the progenitors of the present X/J and the group of strains related to strain III/J. Sawin later moved the rabbits to Brown University, and then transferred them to their present location at The Jackson Laboratory in 1947. Subsequent additions came from a number of sources, although the colony has been closed since 1952. Sawin combined inbreeding with the maintenance of a number of mutants of biomedical interest, and the colony now contains the 18 inbred or partially inbred and/or mutant strains listed here (Fox and Crary, 1976). Most of the strains are now under the supervision of Dr Richard R. Fox. This listing has depended heavily on the Handbook on Genetically Standardized fax Rabbits by Dr Fox, and permission to publish Figure 17.1 from that source is gratefully acknowledged.