Ye Zhi, Elaswad Ahmed, Qin Guyu, Zhang Dongdong, Su Baofeng, Khalil Karim, Qin Zhenkui, Abass Nermeen Y, Cheng Qi, Odin Ramjie, Vo Khoi, Backenstose Nathan, Drescher David, Shang Mei, Li Hanbo, Zhang Dan, Bugg William S, Gosh Kamal, Dunham Rex A
Key Laboratory of Tropical Aquatic Germplasm of Hainan Province, Sanya Oceanographic Institution, Ocean University of China, Sanya, 572024, China.
School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA.
Mar Biotechnol (NY). 2025 Apr 29;27(3):79. doi: 10.1007/s10126-025-10456-7.
Transgenic technologies have been used for genetic improvement of catfish performance with notable success. However, these developments are useless from a commercialization standpoint without extremely efficient confinement. Transgenic sterilization has the potential to accomplish 100% reproductive confinement and avoid genetic exchange between transgenic or domestic genotypes and wild populations. The present study reports a novel sterilization method for channel catfish by overexpressing the pro-apoptosis gene bax, specifically in the primordial germ cells, to inhibit their proliferation. Three transgenic constructs were electroporated into channel catfish one-cell embryos, including Nanos-nanos, Nanos-dnd, and Dazl-vasa. Transgene integration, gonad development, and sex ratio were evaluated in P and F generations. The transgene was successfully integrated into the channel catfish genome, with variable rates depending on each construct. Mosaicism of transgene integration was widely evident in the P fish, as expected. All three constructs showed similar efficacy for sterilizing P male channel catfish, with approximately half of all males showing little to no gonadal development, resulting in a significantly lower (p < 0.05) gonadosomatic index (GSI) when compared to the control at four years of age. The same trend occurred but with lower efficacy in P females, with approximately one-third showing little gonadal development at four years of age. This technology is potentially useful for generating sterile male fish, where the overexpression of the bax gene can lead to reduced or no gonadal development, presumably due to the death of primordial germ cells.
转基因技术已被用于鲶鱼性能的遗传改良，并取得了显著成功。然而，从商业化的角度来看，如果没有极其高效的限制措施，这些进展将毫无用处。转基因绝育有可能实现100%的生殖限制，并避免转基因或家养基因型与野生种群之间的基因交换。本研究报告了一种通过在原始生殖细胞中特异性过表达促凋亡基因bax来抑制其增殖的新型鲶鱼绝育方法。将三种转基因构建体电穿孔导入鲶鱼单细胞胚胎中，包括Nanos-nanos、Nanos-dnd和Dazl-vasa。在P代和F代中评估转基因整合、性腺发育和性别比例。转基因成功整合到鲶鱼基因组中，整合率因每个构建体而异。正如预期的那样，转基因整合的嵌合现象在P代鱼中广泛存在。所有三种构建体对P代雄性鲶鱼绝育均显示出相似的效果，约一半的雄性鲶鱼性腺发育很少或没有发育，导致四岁时性腺指数（GSI）显著低于对照组（p < 0.05）。在P代雌性鲶鱼中也出现了相同的趋势，但效果较低，约三分之一的雌性鲶鱼在四岁时性腺发育很少。这项技术可能有助于培育不育雄鱼，其中bax基因的过表达可能导致性腺发育减少或不发育，推测是由于原始生殖细胞的死亡。
