Manufacture of diploid/tetraploid chimeric mice

Tetraploid mouse embryos were produced by cytochalasin B treatment. These embryos usually die before completion of embryonic development and are abnormal morphologically and physiologically. The tetraploid embryos can be rescued to develop to maturity by aggregating them with normal diploid embryos to produce diploid/tetraploid chimeric mice. The diploid/tetraploid chimeric embryos are frequently abnormal: the larger the proportion of tetraploid cells, the greater the abnormality. By karyotype analysis and by the use of appropriate pigment cell markers, we have demonstrated that two of our surviving chimeras are in fact diploid/tetraploid chimeras. One surviving chimera is retarded in growth and displays neurological abnormalities. The coat color chimerism suggests that this chimera is about 50% tetraploid. Another chimera with about 10% tetraploid pigment cells in the coat is only slightly retarded in growth and is a fertile male. Tetraploid cells are distributed in many, if not all, tissues of embryos but evidently are physiologically inadequate to support completely normal development and function in the absence of substantial numbers of normal diploid cells.