Introduction of Carp .ALPHA.-Globin Gene into Rainbow Trout.

Abstract

Carp α-globin gene (CαG) was microinjected into the cytoplasm of fertilized rainbow trout eggs at 1 cell stage treated with glutathione (reduced) to prevent hardening of chorion. About 67% of microinjected eggs hatched out and grew normally. DNA was extracted from the muscle 130-day-old fish or from adipose fin of 10 to 12-month-old fish and analyzed by Southern blot hybridization to determine the presence of CαG. Forty percent of 130-day-old fish and 39% of 10 to 12-month-old fish tested positive for CαG. In 130-day-old fish, CαG was integrated in the host genome, and formed head-to-tail, head-to-head, and tail-to-tail concatemers. In 10 to 12-month-old fish, most of the positive individuals carried several copies of CαG per cell. About 10% of these individuals, however, carried CαG at less than I copy per cell on average. This result suggests that both CαG-integrated and non-integrated cells coexisted mosaically in host fish.