Establishing and Maintaining an Etruscan Shrew Colony.

The Etruscan shrew (Suncus etruscus) is one of the smallest mammals on earth and is used in many fields of research, including physiology, behavioral science and neuroscience. However, establishing and maintaining a breeding colony of this species in the laboratory can be challenging, as it requires specific husbandry conditions that greatly differ from those of more common laboratory species such as mice or rats. Over the past 15 y, we have successfully established a long-term thriving colony of 150 to 200 animals originating from 36 founders. The colony shows longer life expectancy and larger litter sizes than wild conspecifics. Breeding occurs year-round, independent of seasons, and a breeding pair can regularly produce 2 to 6 offspring with an average life expectancy of more than 3 y. The shrews are housed in glass or plastic enclosures on a specific soil-sand-mixture bedding and are provided with hideouts and nesting material consisting of moss, wood, or bark. Due to their high basal metabolic rate, the shrews require food intake greater than their body weight per day, can hunt arthropods as large as themselves, and cannot survive more than a few hours without food. Live feed such as crickets or mealworms is crucial and must be provided daily or, at the very least, every 2 d. Although our husbandry practices have constantly been adapted and refined, shrew husbandry remains challenging, and great care is necessary to meet the specific needs of this species. Here, we describe the establishment of a long-term stable colony of Etruscan shrews in a research animal facility and the specific husbandry requirements for animal wellbeing.

Differentiation Among Rodentibacter Species Based on 16S-23S rRNA Internal Transcribed Spacer Analysis.

The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of Rodentibacter pneumotropicus, R. heylii, R. rarus, R. ratti, and R. heidelbergensis and of a Rodentibacter- related ß-hemolytic Pasteurellaceae taxon isolated from laboratory rodents were studied for their feasibility to discriminate among these species. The 6 species analyzed showed species-specific ITS patterns that were shared by the type strains and clinical isolates and that allowed their identification. Nevertheless, differentiating between the ITS band patterns of R. pneumotropicus and R. ratti is visually challenging. In all species tested, sequence analysis of the ITS fragments revealed a larger ITSile+ala, which contained the genes for tRNAIle(GAU) and tRNA Ala(UGC), and a smaller ITSglu with the tRNAGlu(UUC) gene. The ITS sequences varied among the 6 species evaluated, displaying identity levels ranging from 62% to 86% for ITSile+ala and 68% to 90% for ITSglu. Overall, ITS amplification proved to be a reliable method to differentiate among these important Pasteurellaceae species of laboratory rodents. Moreover, the ITS sequence variations recorded here might facilitate the design of probes for specific identification of these species. The ability to diagnose these organisms to the species level could increase our understanding of their clinical significance.