Resource of Genetic Robustness: Loss-of-Function Mouse Mutant Alleles with no Apparent Phenotype

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to collect original research papers, short communications, and review articles that focus on knock-out mice with no apparent phenotype for the scientific community. While mouse models presenting a strong phenotype are often a key to elucidate any in vivo significance of a biological process, many models do not present a detectable phenotype. Publication of the latter is not always possible, and no good estimate exists as to how often those carefully-prepared and analyzed models are just unavailable to the scientific community. With this Special Issue, we want to create an easily-accessible resource that describes bona fide knock-out models with absent or very minor phenotypes, but that will reveal otherwise-unexpected genetic robustness.

This probably-ample repository will give invaluable information to researchers working in similar fields, and will help to broaden our understanding of complex models and potential pitfalls involved. We believe that this collection of open-access high-quality reports will, not only save time for researchers, but also will allow access to previously-inaccessible results.

Potential emphasis should focus on different categories of mouse models, and include, but not limited to, the following:

• Knock-out mice with no apparent phenotype
• Absence of phenotypic rescue by in vivo complementation
• Genetic robustness (genetic redundancy between paralogous and/or non-paralogous genes)
• Divergence between orthologous genes
• Impact of genetic background
• Reversion by mitotic recombination or viral sequence excision

Dr. Florent Hubé
Dr. Philip Hublitz
Dr. Jean-François Ouimette
Guest Editors

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