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A perspective on fish gonad manipulation for biotechnical applications

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Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

The gonad is an essential organ for generating sperm and ova in vertebrates. This review describes several pilot studies on gonad gene manipulation and development in fish. With antisense RNA techniques, we suppressed the gonad development, and thus the fertility, of an antisense gonadotropin-releasing hormone (sGnRH) transgenic common carp. Then, using a tissue-specific exogenous gene excision strategy with sexual compensation, we knocked out the gonad-specific transgene. Under the control of the rainbow trout protamine promoter, the transgenic fish expressed the reporter gene eGFP specifically in the spermary. These results indicate that the fish gonad is a new model organ that can improve contemporary biotechnology experiments. Herein we discuss the potential of fish gonad manipulation for resolving important biosafety problems regarding transgenic fish generation and producing the new transgenic animal bioreactor.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Hu Wei, Wang Yaping & Zhu Zuoyan

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  1. Hu Wei
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  2. Wang Yaping
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  3. Zhu Zuoyan
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Hu, W., Wang, Y. & Zhu, Z. A perspective on fish gonad manipulation for biotechnical applications. Chin. Sci. Bull. 51, 1–6 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-005-1055-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-005-1055-3

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