Effect of maternal aging on transgene heritability in transgenic founder mice derived from zygotes microinjected with retroviral long terminal repeat- containing recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid

To determine the stability of artificially introduced recombinant DNA in the mouse germline throughout the reproductive life, founder mice derived from fertilized eggs injected with retroviral long-terminal-repeat-containing recombinant DNAs were mated with congenic FVB/N mice. Tail DNA of all progeny were screened and restriction fragment patterns of the transgenes were examined. Litter size and percentage of transgene transmission at various reproductive age periods were analyzed. Microinjection of 1737 eggs with four different recombinant DNAs resulted in 12 female and 11 male transgenic mice; 2 males were sterile and the remaining 21 mice served as founders to produce 1087 F1 progeny. With increasing parental age, litter size decreased generally. The percentage of progeny inheriting the transgenes declined markedly with increasing aging of 4 female founders; this aging effect was not observed in male founders (p < 0.005). No apparent change in transgenes was detected in progeny from late reproductive stages.