GNAS2009 Abstract #2 - Eppig, Janan

What's in a name?  -- current nomenclature issues and activities for mouse

The Mouse Genome Informatics (MGI, www.informatics.jax.org) group maintains the international authoritative resource for the identity and names of mouse genes, genetic markers, alleles, chromosome aberrations, genomic features, and strains. To that end, each of these objects is cataloged in MGI and includes a unique ID, a history delineating previous official designations, and a list of synonyms used as common ' lab' names or published as alternate names.  MGI works daily with HGNC and RGD in coordinating mammalian naming conventions and with other (mainly mammalian) species groups and gene family experts in discussing gene family naming resolutions.

MGI produces the unified catalog of mouse gene models, combining and resolving automated gene model assignments from each genome build that are calculated independently by Ensembl and NCBI. A four-way comparison between automated models from Ensembl and NCBI and curated models from VEGA and MGI result in a set of commonly identified genes and sets of genes unique to each database. Ongoing evaluation of uniquely identified genes leads to identification of algorithmic problems in automated gene predictions, resolution of difficult genomic areas, and exclusion of problematic sequences from analysis pipelines.

MGI catalogs and provides official nomenclature for all mutant alleles of mouse. This includes spontaneous, induced, and genetically engineered alleles (gene traps, targeted mutations, transgenes, etc.).  Currently this number is >500,000.

MGI also provides official nomenclature for strains of mice, currently numbering >15,000. Inbred mouse strains are of great value to experimentalists as a source of genetically homogeneous individuals. With the advent of genetic engineering and ARTS (assisted reproductive technologies), the barriers to propogating, cryopreserving and recovering unique strains has been significantly lowered, providing greater accessibility to specialized strains for the research community. The International Mouse Strain Resource (IMSR, www.findmice.org) is a global repository catalog, allowing researchers to access mouse strains and mutants through the holding repository, wherever they are located worldwide.