How to Manage Genes and Alleles
In Moustra, genotypes are built from genes and alleles. A gene (such as Foxn1) has one or more alleles — wild-type, knockout, conditional, reporter, and so on — and each animal's genotype is a set of gene + allele combinations with a zygosity. Setting up genes and alleles correctly upfront keeps genotype entry consistent across the lab and lets Moustra project Mendelian outcomes for matings.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Open the Genes & Alleles settings page
From the navigation menu, go to Strains (or Settings) and select Genes & Alleles. This page lists every gene your lab has registered and the alleles defined under each one.
Add a new gene
Click Add Gene and enter the gene Name (e.g. Foxn1) and its official Symbol. Add optional Notes to capture context — chromosome, pathway, or anything that helps your lab identify it later.
Add alleles under the gene
Open the gene you just created and click Add Allele. Give each allele a short Label (e.g. nu, flox, KO, Cre) and fill in optional Reporter info if the allele carries a fluorescent or selection marker.
Pro Tip
Keep allele labels short and consistent — they show up on cage cards, animal grids, and mating projections, so something like **flox** reads better than **floxed conditional exon 2**.
Use the gene and allele in an animal's genotype
Open any animal and go to the Genotype section. Click Add Genotype, pick the Gene, choose the Allele, and set the Zygosity (homozygous, heterozygous, wild-type, or unknown). Repeat for each gene you track on that animal.
Edit or merge alleles as your naming evolves
If your lab refines naming over time, return to Genes & Alleles, open the allele, and click Edit to rename it — every animal that uses it updates automatically. Use Merge to consolidate duplicate alleles into a single canonical entry without rewriting genotypes by hand.