Generation of Myostatin Gene-Edited Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) via Zygote Injection of CRISPR/Cas9 System

TLDR

The myostatin (MSTN) gene regulates skeletal muscle growth in vertebrates. The study aimed to target the channel catfish MSTN gene with CRISPR/Cas9 to enhance muscle growth. CRISPR/Cas9 was delivered by zygote injection to edit the MSTN gene. CRISPR/Cas9 achieved 88–100% mutagenesis of MSTN, producing edited fry with significantly more muscle cells, a 29.7% weight increase, and multiple indels, proving the method’s efficiency and potential for growth‑enhanced channel catfish.

Abstract

Abstract The myostatin (MSTN) gene is important because of its role in regulation of skeletal muscle growth in all vertebrates. In this study, CRISPR/Cas9 was utilized to successfully target the channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus , muscle suppressor gene MSTN. CRISPR/Cas9 induced high rates (88–100%) of mutagenesis in the target protein-encoding sites of MSTN. MSTN-edited fry had more muscle cells ( p < 0.001) than controls, and the mean body weight of gene-edited fry increased by 29.7%. The nucleic acid alignment of the mutated sequences against the wild-type sequence revealed multiple insertions and deletions. These results demonstrate that CRISPR/Cas9 is a highly efficient tool for editing the channel catfish genome, and opens ways for facilitating channel catfish genetic enhancement and functional genomics. This approach may produce growth-enhanced channel catfish and increase productivity.