Maintenance of the SPF Breeding Colonies at Yerkes National Primate Research Center: Husbandry and Management Core

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Project Summary/Abstract Husbandry and Management Core The Yerkes National Primate Research Center (YNPRC) has an exceptionally successful history of breeding rhesus macaques of Indian-origin for HIV/AIDS research. This success can be attributed, in part, to continuous U24 support for the management and care of this colony since 2002. U24 support has allowed the rhesus macaque breeding colony at the YNPRC Field Station to establish a colony pedigree, to transition to full specific pathogen free (SPF) status, to introduce major histocompatibility (MHC) profiling, and to validate a rapid in-house Herpes B virus (Macacine herpesvirus 1) screening protocol. Over the past 4 years, importantly, the number of individual NIH-funded HIV/AIDS-related projects requiring more SPF rhesus monkeys has increased significantly. It is also expected that this trend will continue to increase over the next U42 funding period as described in the Overall Section. Thus, the central objective of the Husbandry and Management Core for the current U42 application is to leverage the resources provided by the U42 and the expertise of the Division of Animal Resources at YNPRC to maximize production of Indian-origin rhesus monkeys and facilitate allocation of these animals for NIH-funded HIV/AIDS research. As part of Aim 1, the Husbandry and Management Core will continue to maintain the SPF status and genetic health as well as the overall physical and social health of the Colony in order to produce high quality animals with desired MHC genotypes for HIV/AIDS research. As part of Aim 2 to maximize animal production, the Husbandry and Management Core will continue to employ their proven management practices of maintaining socially-stable compound and run- type breeding groups, but will also implement a new male breeder socialization program to improve the integration rate of multi-male cohorts into established multi-matrilineal compound-based breeding groups. Finally, as part of Aim 3, the Husbandry and Management Core will streamline animal assignments for HIV/AIDS research by implementing a dynamic population modeling program and enhancements to a Yerkes web-based Electronic Animal Search Tool. The success of these aims will ensure that the SPF colony at YNPRC will continue to grow and provide a reliable supply of healthy and genetically well-characterized rhesus macaques for HIV/AIDS investigations.