Mitigating Chinese–Indian rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) hybridity at the California National Primate Research Center (CNPRC)

Abstract

Background The effectiveness of abating hybridity in a rhesus breeding colony was evaluated. Methods STR data from the 2006 to 2015 newborns were analyzed. Results Hybridity decreased over successive years. Birth cohorts retained high genetic variability without signs of inbreeding and differentiation. Conclusions Hybridity was minimized without compromising overall genetic variability.

SNP‐based genetic characterization of the Tulane National Primate Research Center's conventional and specific pathogen‐free rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) populations

“…This further demonstrates the effectiveness of the TNPRC's strategy to derive and expand its SPF animals from the conventional breeding stock without compromising genetic diversity. While this observation also presumptively attests to the pure blood status of all animals that compose the SPF and conventional subpopulations, a large scale admixture analysis would be necessary to confirm any hybridity within the TNPRC colony that may have resulted from inadvertent interbreeding between the Chinese and Indian animals …”