The BXD recombinant inbred (RI) strains are used to study the genetics of behavioral phenotypes including alcohol and drug addiction, stress, and locomotor activity. The BXD set of RI strains also are used in the genetic analysis of numerous complex or potentially complex physiologic phenotypes including differences in organ weight and bone mineral density.

The BXD#/Rww set was generated using a strategy of advanced intercrosses (AI). The AI technique produces recombinant RI strains which incorporate approximately twice as many recombinations as the standard RI strains. The addition of the AI BXD RI lines to the existing BXD set creates the largest of the mouse RI mapping panels. This set is useful in QTL mapping and analysis of gene function.

The strain distribution pattern (SDP) for the BXD RI strains is available through the Mouse Genome Informatics Contributed Data Sets and Gene Network. Additional tools and information are presented through the Mouse Phenome Database Specialized Strain Panel Query Form, and Gene Network .

The BXD#/Rww advanced recombinant inbred (ARI) lines are derived from two independently derived advanced intercrosses between the C57BL/6J and DBA/2J progenitor strains generated at Princeton University and the University of Tennessee. Crosses at Princeton were intiated using B6D2F1/J mice crossed to generate B6D2F2 mice. These mice were randomly mated to generate a G3 population. Subsequent matings were chosen to minimize the number of common parents. AIL from the Tennessee crosses were initiated with reciprocal crosses of the parental strains. As a result, mice from the Tennessee set can have the Y chromosome and mitochondrial genome from either progenitor. Mice from the Princeton set have a Y chromosome from DBA/2J and the mitochondrial genome from C57BL/6J. All ARI lines were intercrossed for 9-14 generations before inbreeding. Like the Princeton crosses, the Tennessee crosses also sought to miminize common ancestors in each cross although fewer breeding cages per generation were used. As of early 2007, most lines were inbred for more than 20 generations. The lines were donated to The Jackson Laboratory Repository in 2007 by Dr. Robert Williams.