We examined the genetic diversity of 80 inbred waxy maize lines using 22 SSR molecular markers that could be used to achieve heterosis in waxy maize. Eighty inbred waxy maize lines with different phenotypes, 40 yellow, 25 white, 13 black, and two red lines were analyzed by SSR molecular marker fingerprint and cluster analysis. Using a standard genetic distance of 0.55, the 80 waxy maize i...

Whether to develop inbred cultivars or F1 hybrids is a dilemma faced by many rice (Oryza sativa L.) breeders. This could be partially answered if one could select superior recombinant inbred lines with an equal yielding ability and good quality traits from commercial F1 hybrids. Thus, it was attempted in this study to select superior inbred lines from 2 commercial F1 hybrids after application o...

Inbreeding adversely affects life history traits as well as various other fitness-related traits, but its effect on cognitive traits remains largely unexplored, despite their importance to fitness of many animals under natural conditions. We studied the effects of inbreeding on aversive learning (avoidance of an odour previously associated with mechanical shock) in multiple inbred lines of Dros...

Many commercial inbred lines are available in crops. A large amount of genetic variation is preserved among these lines. The genealogical history of the inbred lines is usually well documented. However, quantitative trait loci (QTL) responsible for the genetic variances among the lines are largely unexplored due to lack of statistical methods. In this study, we show that the pedigree informatio...

When relatives mate, their inbred offspring often suffer a reduction in fitness-related traits known as "inbreeding depression." There is mounting evidence that inbreeding depression can be exacerbated by environmental stresses such as starvation, predation, parasitism, and competition. Parental care may play an important role as a buffer against inbreeding depression in the offspring by allevi...

The development of phenotypically and genetically divergent inbred chicken lines as simplified genetic models facilitates the identification of genes and contributes to the elucidation of gene functions. In this study, we characterized a New Hampshire (NH) population with its partial inbred derivative, New Hampshire inbred (NHI), and a White Leghorn inbred line (WL77). Both NHI and WL77 lines w...

Knowledge of genetic diversity is important to assist breeders in the selection of parental materials and in the design of breeding programs. In this study, we genotyped 348 inbred tomato lines, representing vintage and contemporary fresh-market varieties, by using 52 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs); 45 of these were found to be polymorphic. The average minor allele frequency and unbiase...

The neuropeptide Y (NPY) neurons in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus regulate and are regulated by short-term changes in energy homeostasis. Both outbred and inbred strains of rats that develop diet-induced obesity (DIO) or are diet resistant (DR) when fed a diet relatively high in energy, fat, and sucrose content (HE diet) were used to study arcuate NPY mRNA expression during long-term changes...

Treponema pallidum-immobilizing (TPI) antibodies were examined in intradermally infected inbred strain 13 and adoptively immune inbred strain 2 guinea pigs. Both strains of animals produced TPI antibodies at or after 90 days of infection. TPI antibodies were not associated with the protective mechanism(s) operative after challenge in adoptively immune animals.

Inbred mice are the mainstay for preclinical cancer assessment of potential therapeutics, especially immune-based approaches. However, the use of young, lean, inbred mice housed under specific-pathogen-free conditions does not mirror the human cancer scenario. This commentary discusses some of the issues in evaluating immunotherapeutics in mice given recent advances.