Irradiation of fish embryos prior to blastomere transfer boosts the colonisation of their gonads by donor-derived gametes

• Published in: Molecular reproduction and development 1999-08, Vol.53 (4), p.394-397
• Main Authors: Joly, Jean-Stéphane, Kress, Chantal, Vandeputte, Marc, Bourrat, Franck, Chourrout, Daniel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Blastomeres; Blastomeres - transplantation; Cell physiology; Cell Transplantation; Cell Transplantation - methods; Effects of physical and chemical agents; embryo; Female; fish; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gamma Rays; germline chimeras; Gonads; Gonads - embryology; Gonads - radiation effects; irradiation; Life Sciences; Male; medaka; Molecular and cellular biology; Neurons and Cognition; Oryzias; Oryzias - embryology; Oryzias - genetics; Pigmentation; Radiation Chimera; Stem Cell Transplantation
• ISSN: 1040-452X; 1098-2795
• DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-2795(199908)53:4<394::AID-MRD4>3.0.CO;2-X

Blastomere transplantation into fish blastula embryos results in somatic chimeras, which generally provide null or a small proportion of gametes derived from the donor. This may partly explain why none of the ES‐like cell lines established from fish embryos has contributed to the germline of chimeras when transplanted at the blastula stage. Here, we report that a moderate gamma‐irradiation of recipient embryos, followed by transplantation of dispersed blastomeres, considerably enhances the proportion of donor‐derived gametes (53% versus 5% in average). In fish, the resulting protocol should maximise the pluripotency level measured in vivo for embryonic cell lines and for cultured germ cells. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 53:394–397, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.