Transgenic chickens: insertion of retroviral genes into the chicken germ line.
We infected early chicken embryos by injection of wild-type and recombinant avian leukosis viruses into the yolk of unincubated, fertile eggs. The viremic males (designated generation 0 (G-0] were tested for transmission of proviral DNA to their G-1 progeny. Nine of 37 G-0 viremic males were mosiac and proviral DNA was transmitted to their progeny at frequencies varying from 1 to 11%. All of the G-1 progeny examined by restriction enzyme analysis for clonality of proviral junction fragments had one to three simple but different fragments. The proviral DNA was transmitted from G-1 to the G-2 progeny in a Mendelian fashion thus proving that retroviral genes have been inserted into the chicken germ line. One of the viruses is a candidate vector for insertion of foreign genes into the chicken germ line.
D000818:Animals; D001354:Avian Leukosis Virus / Q000235:genetics*; D002645:Chickens / Q000382:microbiology*; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D005814:Genes, Viral; D008297:Male; D014162:Transfection
D004279:DNA, Viral; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes