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Ye Z, Elaswad A, Su B, Alsaqufi A, Shang M, Bugg WS, Qin G, Drescher D, Li H, Qin Z, Odin R, Makhubu N, Abass N, Dong S, Dunham R. Reversible Sterilization of Channel Catfish via Overexpression of Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase Gene. Animals (Basel) 2024; 14:1899. [PMID: 38998011 PMCID: PMC11240427 DOI: 10.3390/ani14131899] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2024] [Revised: 06/14/2024] [Accepted: 06/24/2024] [Indexed: 07/14/2024] Open
Abstract
The confinement of transgenic fish is essential to prevent their escape and reproduction in natural ecosystems. Reversible transgenic sterilization is a promising approach to control the reproduction of transgenic fish. Therefore, the present study was conducted to develop a reversibly sterile channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) via the transgenic overexpression of the goldfish (Carassius auratus) glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) gene driven by the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) β-actin promoter to disrupt normal gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) regulation. Three generations of GAD-transgenic fish were produced. All studied generations showed repressed reproductive performance; however, this was not always statistically significant. In F1, 5.4% of the transgenic fish showed a sexual maturity score ≥ 4 (maximum = 5) at five years of age, which was lower (p = 0.07) than that of the control group (16.8%). In the spawning experiments conducted on F1 transgenic fish at six and nine years of age, 45.5% and 20.0% of fish spawned naturally, representing lower values (p = 0.09 and 0.12, respectively) than the percentages in the sibling control fish of the same age (83.3% and 66.7%, respectively). Four of six pairs of the putative infertile six-year-old fish spawned successfully after luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analog (LHRHa) therapy. Similar outcomes were noted in the three-year-old F2 fish, with a lower spawning percentage in transgenic fish (20.0%) than in the control (66.7%). In one-year-old F2-generation transgenic fish, the observed mean serum gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) levels were 9.23 ± 2.49 and 8.14 ± 2.21 ng/mL for the females and males, respectively. In the control fish, the mean levels of GnRH were 11.04 ± 4.06 and 9.03 ± 2.36 ng/mL for the females and males, respectively, which did not differ significantly from the control (p = 0.15 and 0.27 for females and males, respectively). There was no significant difference in the estradiol levels of the female transgenic and non-transgenic fish in the one- and four-year-old F2-generation fish. The four-year-old F2-generation male transgenic fish exhibited significantly (p < 0.05) lower levels of GnRH and testosterone than the control fish. In conclusion, while overexpressing GAD repressed the reproductive abilities of channel catfish, it did not completely sterilize transgenic fish. The sterilization rate might be improved through selection in future generations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhi Ye
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA; (A.E.); (B.S.); (A.A.); (M.S.); (W.S.B.); (G.Q.); (D.D.); (H.L.); (Z.Q.); (R.O.); (N.M.); (N.A.); (S.D.); (R.D.)
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Aquatic Germplasm of Hainan Province, Sanya Oceanographic Institution, Ocean University of China, Sanya 572024, China
- MOE Key Laboratory of Marine Genetics and Breeding, College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China
| | - Ahmed Elaswad
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA; (A.E.); (B.S.); (A.A.); (M.S.); (W.S.B.); (G.Q.); (D.D.); (H.L.); (Z.Q.); (R.O.); (N.M.); (N.A.); (S.D.); (R.D.)
- Center of Excellence in Marine Biotechnology, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat 123, Oman
| | - Baofeng Su
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA; (A.E.); (B.S.); (A.A.); (M.S.); (W.S.B.); (G.Q.); (D.D.); (H.L.); (Z.Q.); (R.O.); (N.M.); (N.A.); (S.D.); (R.D.)
| | - Ahmed Alsaqufi
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA; (A.E.); (B.S.); (A.A.); (M.S.); (W.S.B.); (G.Q.); (D.D.); (H.L.); (Z.Q.); (R.O.); (N.M.); (N.A.); (S.D.); (R.D.)
- Department of Aquaculture and Animal Production, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mei Shang
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA; (A.E.); (B.S.); (A.A.); (M.S.); (W.S.B.); (G.Q.); (D.D.); (H.L.); (Z.Q.); (R.O.); (N.M.); (N.A.); (S.D.); (R.D.)
| | - William S. Bugg
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA; (A.E.); (B.S.); (A.A.); (M.S.); (W.S.B.); (G.Q.); (D.D.); (H.L.); (Z.Q.); (R.O.); (N.M.); (N.A.); (S.D.); (R.D.)
- Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Guyu Qin
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA; (A.E.); (B.S.); (A.A.); (M.S.); (W.S.B.); (G.Q.); (D.D.); (H.L.); (Z.Q.); (R.O.); (N.M.); (N.A.); (S.D.); (R.D.)
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - David Drescher
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA; (A.E.); (B.S.); (A.A.); (M.S.); (W.S.B.); (G.Q.); (D.D.); (H.L.); (Z.Q.); (R.O.); (N.M.); (N.A.); (S.D.); (R.D.)
- Fisheries Department, Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, Auburn, WA 98092, USA
| | - Hanbo Li
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA; (A.E.); (B.S.); (A.A.); (M.S.); (W.S.B.); (G.Q.); (D.D.); (H.L.); (Z.Q.); (R.O.); (N.M.); (N.A.); (S.D.); (R.D.)
| | - Zhenkui Qin
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA; (A.E.); (B.S.); (A.A.); (M.S.); (W.S.B.); (G.Q.); (D.D.); (H.L.); (Z.Q.); (R.O.); (N.M.); (N.A.); (S.D.); (R.D.)
- MOE Key Laboratory of Marine Genetics and Breeding, College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China
| | - Ramjie Odin
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA; (A.E.); (B.S.); (A.A.); (M.S.); (W.S.B.); (G.Q.); (D.D.); (H.L.); (Z.Q.); (R.O.); (N.M.); (N.A.); (S.D.); (R.D.)
- College of Fisheries, Mindanao State University-Maguindanao, Datu Odin Sinsuat 9601, Philippines
| | - Nonkonzo Makhubu
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA; (A.E.); (B.S.); (A.A.); (M.S.); (W.S.B.); (G.Q.); (D.D.); (H.L.); (Z.Q.); (R.O.); (N.M.); (N.A.); (S.D.); (R.D.)
| | - Nermeen Abass
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA; (A.E.); (B.S.); (A.A.); (M.S.); (W.S.B.); (G.Q.); (D.D.); (H.L.); (Z.Q.); (R.O.); (N.M.); (N.A.); (S.D.); (R.D.)
- Department of Agricultural Botany, Faculty of Agriculture Saba-Basha, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21531, Egypt
| | - Sheng Dong
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA; (A.E.); (B.S.); (A.A.); (M.S.); (W.S.B.); (G.Q.); (D.D.); (H.L.); (Z.Q.); (R.O.); (N.M.); (N.A.); (S.D.); (R.D.)
- Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Rex Dunham
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA; (A.E.); (B.S.); (A.A.); (M.S.); (W.S.B.); (G.Q.); (D.D.); (H.L.); (Z.Q.); (R.O.); (N.M.); (N.A.); (S.D.); (R.D.)
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Qin G, Qin Z, Lu C, Ye Z, Elaswad A, Jin Y, Khan MGQ, Su B, Dunham RA. Gene Editing of the Follicle-Stimulating Hormone Gene to Sterilize Channel Catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, Using a Modified Transcription Activator-like Effector Nuclease Technology with Electroporation. BIOLOGY 2023; 12:biology12030392. [PMID: 36979084 PMCID: PMC10044888 DOI: 10.3390/biology12030392] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023]
Abstract
Follicle-stimulating hormone (fsh) plays an important role in sexual maturation in catfish. Knocking out the fsh gene in the fish zygote should suppress the reproduction of channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus). In this study, transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN) plasmids targeting the fsh gene were electroporated into fertilized eggs with the standard double electroporation technique. Targeted fsh cleavage efficiency was 63.2% in P1fsh-knockout catfish. Ten of fifteen (66.7%) control pairs spawned, and their eggs had 32.3–74.3% average hatch rates in 2016 and 2017. Without hormone therapy, the spawning rates of P1 mutants ranged from 33.3 to 40.0%, with an average egg hatching rate of 0.75%. After confirmation of the low fertility of P1 mutants in 2016, human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) hormone therapy improved the spawning rates by 80% for female mutants and 88.9% for male mutants, and the mean hatch rate was 35.0% for F1 embryos, similar to that of the controls (p > 0.05). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) identification showed no potential TALEN plasmid integration into the P1 channel catfish genome. Neither the P1 nor the F1 mutant fish showed any noticeable changes in in body weight, survival rate, and hatching rate when the reproductive gene was knocked out. F1 families had a mean inheritance rate of 50.3%. The results brought us one step closer to allowing implementation of certain genetic techniques to aquaculture and fisheries management, while essentially eliminating the potential environment risk posed by transgenic, hybrid, and exotic fish as well as domestic fish.
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Elaswad A, Khalil K, Ye Z, Liu Z, Liu S, Peatman E, Odin R, Vo K, Drescher D, Gosh K, Qin G, Bugg W, Backenstose N, Dunham R. Effects of CRISPR/Cas9 dosage on TICAM1 and RBL gene mutation rate, embryonic development, hatchability and fry survival in channel catfish. Sci Rep 2018; 8:16499. [PMID: 30405210 PMCID: PMC6220201 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-34738-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2018] [Accepted: 10/08/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The current study was conducted to assess the effects of microinjection of different dosages of guide RNA (gRNA)/Cas9 protein on the mutation rate, embryo survival, embryonic development, hatchability and early fry survival in channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus. Guide RNAs targeting two of the channel catfish immune-related genes, toll/interleukin 1 receptor domain-containing adapter molecule (TICAM 1) and rhamnose binding lectin (RBL) genes, were designed and prepared. Three dosages of gRNA/Cas9 protein (low, 2.5 ng gRNA/7.5 ng Cas9, medium, 5 ng gRNA/15 ng Cas9 and high, 7.5 ng gRNA/22.5 ng Cas9) were microinjected into the yolk of one-cell embryos. Mutation rate increased with higher dosages (p < 0.05). Higher dosages increased the mutation frequency in individual embryos where biallelic mutations were detected. For both genes, microinjection procedures increased the embryo mortality (p < 0.05). Increasing the dosage of gRNA/Cas9 protein increased the embryo mortality and reduced the hatching percent (p < 0.05). Embryonic development was delayed when gRNAs targeting RBL gene were injected. Means of fry survival time were similar for different dosages (p > 0.05). The current results lay the foundations for designing gene editing experiments in channel catfish and can be used as a guide for other fish species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmed Elaswad
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Alabama, 36849, USA.,Department of Animal Wealth Development, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, 41522, Egypt
| | - Karim Khalil
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Alabama, 36849, USA.,Anatomy and Embryology Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, 12211, Egypt
| | - Zhi Ye
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Alabama, 36849, USA.
| | - Zhanjiang Liu
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Alabama, 36849, USA.,College of Arts and Science, Syracuse University, New York, 13244, USA
| | - Shikai Liu
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Alabama, 36849, USA.,College of Fisheries, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Shandong, 266003, China
| | - Eric Peatman
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Alabama, 36849, USA
| | - Ramjie Odin
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Alabama, 36849, USA.,Mindanao State University, Maguindanao, 9601, Philippines
| | - Khoi Vo
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Alabama, 36849, USA
| | - David Drescher
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Alabama, 36849, USA.,Department of Agriculture, University of Maryland, College park, Maryland, 20742, USA
| | - Kamal Gosh
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Alabama, 36849, USA.,Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries, University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff, Arkansas, 71601, USA
| | - Guyu Qin
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Alabama, 36849, USA
| | - William Bugg
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Alabama, 36849, USA.,Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada
| | - Nathan Backenstose
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Alabama, 36849, USA.,Department of Biological Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, 14228, USA
| | - Rex Dunham
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Alabama, 36849, USA
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Suppression and restoration of primordial germ cell marker gene expression in channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, using knockdown constructs regulated by copper transport protein gene promoters: Potential for reversible transgenic sterilization. Theriogenology 2015; 84:1499-512. [PMID: 26341409 DOI: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2015.07.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2015] [Revised: 07/28/2015] [Accepted: 07/28/2015] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Complementary DNA overexpression and short hairpin RNA interference approaches were evaluated for decreasing expression of primordial germ cell (PGC) marker genes and thereby sterilizing channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, by delivering knockdown constructs driven by a constitutive promoter from yeast and a copper transport protein gene into fish embryos by electroporation. Two PGC marker genes, nanos and dead end, were the target knockdown genes, and their expressions, along with that of an off-target gene, vasa, were evaluated temporally using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Copper sulfate was evaluated as a repressor compound. Some of the constructs knocked down PGC marker gene expression, and some of the constructs were partially repressed by application of 0.1-ppm copper sulfate. When the rate of sexual maturity was compared for three-year-old broodfish that had been exposed to the sterilizing constructs during embryologic development and controls that had not been exposed, several treatments had reduced sexual maturity for the exposed fish. Of two promoter systems evaluated, the one which had been designed to be less sensitive to copper generally was more effective at achieving sterilization and more responsive to repression. Knockdown constructs based on 3' nanos short hairpin RNA interference appeared to result in the best repression and restoration of normal sexual maturity. We conclude that these copper-based systems exhibited good potential for repressible transgenic sterilization. Optimization of this system could allow environmentally safe application of transgenic technology and might be applicable to other applications for aquatic organisms.
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