Strain

A strain can be defined as a group of organisms that belong to the same species but share certain genetic characteristics not found in other members of the species (Source: NCI).

Mouse strain nomenclature provides two types of technical information: the background or parental strains upon which the strain is based, and details about relevant genes and alleles. The strain name can also include such information as who developed the strain, where it was developed, and where it is currently maintained (Details are available in the JAX Handbook).

The EPS represents strain information as follows.

Data model

Field	Type	Multiplicity	Description
strain_type	OntologyClass	1..1	ontology term representing the strain e.g., MP:0013414. REQUIRED.
strain_attribute	repeated StrainAttribute	0..*, attributes of the strain. OPTIONAL
alternate_id_list	repeated string	0..*	alternate string representations of the strain identified. OPTIONAL

The Strain message is designed to work with an enumeration of strain attributes.

Entry	Explanation
UNKNOWN	no information available
INBRED_STRAIN	todo
CONGENIC	todo
MUTANT_STRAIN	todo
TRANSGENIC	todo
OUTBRED	todo
CRE_STRAIN	todo

Examples

The following represents the strain C57BL/A.

{
    "strainType": {
        "id": "MGI:2670463",
        "label": "C57BL/A"
    },
    "strainAttribute": ["INBRED_STRAIN"]
}

The following represents the strain B6.Cg-Tg(Myh6-Nox4)1Ams.

{
    "strainType": {
        "id": "MGI:4839003",
        "label": "B6.Cg-Tg(Myh6-Nox4)1Ams"
    },
    "strainAttribute": ["CONGENIC", "MUTANT_STRAIN", "TRANSGENIC"]
}

Explanations

TODO -- explain how to choose each of the elements of this message (write this after we have finalized the element). Also consider how this would be done for other models.