Birth of germline chimeras by transfer of chicken embryonic germ (EG) cells into recipient embryos.
This study reports for the first time the production of chicken germline chimeras by transfer of embryonic germ (EG) cells into recipient embryos of different strain. EG cells were established by the subculture of gonadal tissue cells retrieved from stage 28 White Leghorn (WL) embryos with I/I gene. During primary culture (P(0)), gonadal primordial germ cells (gPGCs) in the stromal cells began to form colonies after 7 days in culture with significant (P < 0.0001) increase in cell population. Colonized gPGCs were then subcultured with chicken embryonic fibroblast monolayer for EG cell preparation. Prepared EG cells or gPGCs at P(0) were transferred to stage 17 Korean Ogol chicken (KOC) embryos with i/i gene. The recipient chickens were raised for 6 months to sexual maturity, then a testcross analysis by artificial insemination was conducted for evaluating germline chimerism. As results, transfer of EG cells and gPGCs yielded total 17 germline chimeras; 2 out of 15 (13.3%) and 15 of 176 sexually matured chickens (8.5%), respectively. The efficiency of germline transmission in the chimeras was 1.5-14.6% in EG cells, while 1.3-27.6% in gPGCs. In conclusion, chicken germline chimeras could be produced by the transfer of EG cells, as well as gPGCs, which might enormously contribute to establishing various innovative technologies in the field of avian transgenic research for bioreactor production.
Park
Tae Sub
TS
School of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Suwon, Korea.
Hong
Yeong Ho
YH
Kwon
Se Chang
SC
Lim
Jeong Mook
JM
Han
Jae Yong
JY
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002642:Chick Embryo; D002645:Chickens / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D002678:Chimera / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000502:physiology* / Q000637:transplantation*; D008297:Male; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000637:transplantation; D014162:Transfection