Description
Placentation differs in the BN rat strain when compared to HSD and DSS rat strains. Intrauterine trophoblast invasion is shallow and the junctional zone is underdeveloped in the BN rat. These structural differences are striking but their quantification is not conducive to high throughput analyses. In the rat, the junctional zone can be readily dissected and is more homogenous than other components of the placentation site. HSD and BN rat gestation day 18.5 junctional zone gene expression profiles were determined using DNA microarray analysis to identity placenta-associate quantitate traits.