Is subline differentiation a continuing process in inbred strains of mice?

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Abstract
SUMMARY Two new sublines of the C57BL/Gr strain of mice have been studied which were derived from earlier sublines in which no genetic variance could be demonstrated. The incidence of some 31 minor skeletal variants was examined which could thus go up or down. As new subline differences have arisen with about the same frequency and mean magnitude of effect as in the past, there is no doubt that, at least in the C57BL strain, subline differentiation is a continuing process. Its high frequency (about 0·01 changes per character at risk per generation) is difficult to reconcile with spontaneous mutation rates of single genes in the mouse. The possibility must thus be considered that some other self-perpetuating processes or entities of some degree of stability are handed down in the lines of descent in which they have arisen, or perhaps become unmasked. There is no reason to suppose that this type of event is confined to inbred strains (in which it can be demonstrated fairly easily); it presumably occurs similarly in mixed stocks in which it would scarcely be detectable.