Selective pressure on a saccharin intake phenotype and its correlates: a replication study.

The Occidental High- and Low-Saccharin rats (respectively, HiS and LoS lines) were selectively bred for decades to examine mechanisms and correlates of a saccharin intake phenotype. Observed line differences ranged from taste and eating to drug self-administration and defensive behavior, paralleling human research on relationships between gustation, personality, and psychopathology. The original lines were terminated in 2019, and replicate lines (HiS-R and LoS-R) were selectively bred for 5 generations to test for reproducible, rapid selection for the phenotype and its correlates.