title: A controllable on-off strategy for the reproductive containment of fish.
abstract: A major impediment to the commercialization and cultivation of transgenic fish is the potential ecological risks they pose to natural environments: a problem that could be solved by the production of sterile transgenic fish. Here, we have developed an on-off reproductive containment strategy for fish that renders the offspring sterile but leaves their parents fertile. TG1 (Tol2-CMV-GFP-pA-CMV-gal4-pA-Tol2) and TG2 (Tol2-CMV-RFP-pA-5 × UAS-as/dnd-pA-Tol2) zebrafish lines were established using a GAL4/UAS system. While the parental lines remained fertile, in the hybrid offspring, GAL4 induced 5 × UAS to drive the transcription of antisense dnd, which significantly down-regulated endogenous dnd expression. This disrupted the migration of primordial germ cells (PGCs), led to their apoptosis, and resulted in few or no PGCs migrating to the genital ridge. This process induced sterility or reduced fertility in adult fish. This on-off strategy is a potentially effective means of generating sterile fish for commercialization while retaining fertility in brood stocks, and offers a novel method to mitigate the ecological risks of fish introductions.
authors.affiliation: 1] State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 7 Donghu South Road, Wuhan 430072, China [2] University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Yunsheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 7 Donghu South Road, Wuhan 430072, China.
authors.forename: Ji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: 1] State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 7 Donghu South Road, Wuhan 430072, China [2] University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Xiaojuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: 1] State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 7 Donghu South Road, Wuhan 430072, China [2] Department of Genetics, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wuhan University, No. 185 Donghu East Road, Wuhan 430071, China.
authors.forename: Daji
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: 1] State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 7 Donghu South Road, Wuhan 430072, China [2] University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 7 Donghu South Road, Wuhan 430072, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 7 Donghu South Road, Wuhan 430072, China.
authors.forename: Zuoyan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 7 Donghu South Road, Wuhan 430072, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D017209:Apoptosis; D002465:Cell Movement; D019175:DNA Methylation; D015536:Down-Regulation; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000502:physiology; D047108:Embryonic Development; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D006066:Gonads / Q000473:pathology; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012098:Reproduction / Q000235:genetics; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; C539707:dnd1 protein, zebrafish