Molecular and Immunologic Characterization of Gynogenetic Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)

Second-generation gynogenetic channel catfish were characterized by molecular and immunologic assays to determine if they were isogenic at major histocompatibility complex loci. Southern blot analyses, using channel catfish MHC class II B and class I A gene probes, revealed identical banding patterns among second-generation gynogenetic fish. In contrast, banding patterns from outbred fish differed not only from gynogenetic animals, but also among themselves. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the MHC class II β₁ domain, which encompasses the peptide binding region, from four randomly selected gynogenetic fish showed a single DNA sequence. In contrast, analysis of the same region from three outbred fish showed sequences that differed not only among themselves, but also from those of gynogenetic animals. In cytotoxic assays, peripheral blood leukocytes from outbred fish lysed both gynogenetic and allogeneic targets, whereas those from gynogenetic fish lysed only allogeneic targets. Taken together, these results suggest that this group of second-generation gynogenetic channel catfish is isogenic at MHC loci and may provide an excellent system with which to study cell-mediated immunity in teleosts. Received September 11, 1998; accepted January 14, 1999     

Gene-centromere mapping in Xenopus laevis

Gynogenesis was used to map eight loci to their centromeres in Xenopus laevis. Several loci remote from their centromeres were identified. This information may be useful in distinguishing gynogenetic diploid progeny produced by suppression of second polar bodies from gynogenetic diploid progeny homozygous at all loci produced by suppression of first cleavage of gynogenetic haploids.     

微卫星标记对牙鲆有丝分裂雌核发育家系的亲子鉴定

利用18个微卫星标记,对6个家系的26尾有丝分裂雌核发育牙鲆进行亲子鉴定,PCR扩增产物经8%非变性聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳检测,结果表明:1个座位在母本中表现为相同的基因型,视为单态座位,其他17个座位为多态;多态座位在亲子鉴定中的累计排除概率和累计个体识别概率分别为0.9985、0.9999;根据被测个体在17个微卫星座位的基因型,最后确认26尾子代的母本,其中7尾子代在某些座位表现出与其母本不完全匹配的基因型。利用微卫星标记可确定雌核发育后代的亲子关系,从而构建牙鲆雌核发育家系系谱,对牙鲆雌核发育的深入研究具有重要意义。     

Segregation of Microsatellite Alleles in Gynogenetic Diploid Pacific Abalone (Haliotis discus hannai)

Inheritance of 9 microsatellite loci was examined in 3 families of gynogenetic Pacific abalone Haliotis discus hannai produced by fertilizing eggs with UV-irradiated sperm followed by inhibition of the second meiotic division. The proportion of heterozygous progeny was used to estimate marker-centromere (M-C) distances. All loci conformed to Mendelian segregation in the control crosses when null alleles were accounted for. The absence of paternal alleles confirmed the gynogenetic origin of the offspring and indicated 100% success for 3 families. Estimated recombinant frequencies ranged from 0.10 to 0.60, which is lower than those observed in other gynogenetic diploid animals. The mean recombination frequency was 0.22, corresponding to a fixation index of 0.78 in one generation. This is 3.12 times the increase in homozygosity expected after one generation of sib mating (0.25), suggesting meiotic gynogenesis may be an effective means of rapid inbreeding in the abalone. M-C map distances for the 9 loci varied between 5 and 30 cM under the assumption of complete interference. The information about M-C distances will be useful for future gene mapping in H. discus hannai.     

人工雌核发育鲢的遗传多样性及异源遗传物质整入的RAPD分析

运用RAPD技术对连续二代人工雌核发育鲢的遗传多样性及异源遗传物质的整入进行了分析 ,结果表明 :一代雌核发育鲢 ,个体间遗传相似度为 0 94 5— 0 995 6 ,多样性指数为 0 175 ;二代雌核发育鲢 ,个体间遗传相似度为0 96 15— 1 0 0 ,平均为 0 985 2 ,多样性指数为 0 0 6 2。研究揭示经过连续二代人工雌核发育后 ,其遗传多样性明显减少 ,种质进一步纯化。通过对雌核发育鲢二代、亲本鲢和雄鲤的RAPD扩增比较 ,发现雌核发育鲢含有少数与父本相同的特异DNA扩增带 ,而亲本鲢没有 ,在基因水平上表明雌核发育鲢整入了雄鲤的遗传物质     

Genetic Diversity among Different Clones of the Gynogenetic Silver Crucian Carp, Carassius auratus gibelio, Revealed by Transferrin and Isozyme Markers

Genetic diversity among four clones (A, D, E, F) of gynogenetic silver crucian carp was studied using transferrin and isozymes in the blood as markers. Of the five proteins investigated, three (transferrin, esterase and superoxide dismutase) indicated polymorphism and eight polymorphic loci were detected. These loci were probably encoded by codominant alleles and their inheritance patterns were analyzed. Intraclonal homogeneity and interclonal heterogeneity were observed in these clones, which allowed us to infer the clonal nature and evolutionary relationship between them. Clonal diversity in this population of silver crucian carp in China was also compared with data reported from gynogenetic crucian carp in Germany.     

Artifical gynogenesis and mapping of gene-centromere distances in the paradise fish,Macropodus opercularis

Summary An efficient method has been developed for the production of gynogenetic paradise fish in order to obtain genetically homogeneous strains in a relatively short period. Diploidy of the gynogenetic embryos was restored by inhibition of the second meiotic division, and consecutive generations of normal, fully viable offspring were reared. Crossing-over frequencies and the relative positions of four marker loci were determined by analysing electrophoretic patterns of serum transferrin and esterases in the gynogenetic progeny of heterozygous females.     

雌核发育银鲫微卫星突变速率和突变模式

银鲫是天然雌核发育的三倍体两性型种群, 因其遗传背景和生殖方式的特殊性, 已经成为研究单性和多倍体脊椎动物进化遗传学的理想模式鱼类。利用33个微卫星序列对雌核发育银鲫的突变速率和突变模式进行研究, 结果表明: (1) 22个子代个体中, 检测到1尾个体在15个微卫星位点具有18个突变等位基因; (2) 每个微卫星位点每代总体平均突变率是1.16×10-2, 95%置信区间是6.87×10-3~1.83×10-2, 与其他鱼类相比, 雌核发育银鲫的突变率明显偏高, 这与天然雌核发育鱼类处在单性生殖和两性生殖的过度阶段有密切关系; (3) 具有突变等位基因的13个位点的重复单元数目都在10次以上, 11个复合型微卫星位点的突变率(1.31×10-2)与21个完美型位点(1.00×10-2)的突变率没有明显差异(P = 0.67), 微卫星突变率受到重复单元数目的影响, 然而与重复结构类型和侧翼序列GC碱基含量无相关性; (4) 序列分析表明, 雌核发育银鲫的微卫星突变模式并不严格遵守逐步突变模型。     

Histocompatibility analyses in tetraploids induced from clonal triploid crucian carp and in gynogenetic diploid goldfish

Histocompatibility analyses in goldfish were performed using the tetraploid goldfish-crucian carp hybrid and the first generation of gynogenetic diploid (GD₁) goldfish. Tetraploids were obtained by crossing clonal triploid crucian carp with goldfish. GD₁ goldfish were produced by the suppression of the second meiotic division. Tetraploid scale grafts on triploid clone members evoked an acute rejection in 4–6 days, whereas the reverse transplants were accepted or rejected chronically. Reciprocal grafting between tetraploids showed subacute rejection in 10–12 days, although some fish showed chronic rejection in 20–30 days. On the other hand, scale grafts reciprocally exchanged among triploids were intact even 3 months after grafting, although some of them showed a unidirectional rejection pattern. Furthermore, allograft rejection among gynogens occurred between 5 and 20 days, whereas all the scale allografts between members of control siblings were rejected within 9 days. In addition, neither accelerated acute rejection nor acceptance of allografts was observed in grafts exchanged among GD₁ goldfish. These results suggest that single doses of histocompatibility alleles are effective in eliciting acute rejection, and each of the fourth haploid set of chromosomes originating from paternal goldfish might share the same histocompatibility antigens to a large extent. This experiment also indicates that the genecentromere recombination rate is quite high with respect to the histocompatibility loci in this species.     

Microsatellite analysis of gynogenetic families in the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas

Five families of gynogenetic diploid Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) were induced by inhibiting the second polar body in meiotic cell division of eggs fertilized with UV-irradiated sperm. Segregation patterns of eight microsatellite loci were investigated in the gynogenetic diploid offspring; the proportion of heterozygous progeny was used to estimate microsatellite-centromere (M-C) distances. Mendelian inheritance was confirmed for the eight loci by examining the genotypic segregation in the control crosses. Three of the eight microsatellite loci showed the existence of null alleles in four control crosses. All gynogenetic offspring only possessed the alleles of the mother, indicating 100% success level for the five families. The M-C recombination frequency estimates ranged from 0.62 to 0.77 (0.72 mean), comparable to those in the oyster based on allozyme markers and suggesting that meiotic gynogenesis does not appear to be a very efficient inbreeding method in the oyster. Recombination frequencies observed were often higher than the theoretical maximum of 0.67, indicating the existence of positive interference after a single chiasma formation in some chromosomes. Information on the positions of centromeres in relation to the microsatellite loci will represent a contribution toward assembly of genetic maps in C. gigas.     

Inheritance of nuclear DNA markers in gynogenetic haploid pink salmon

We describe the inheritance of 460 PCR-based loci in the polyploid-derived pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) genome using gynogenetic haploid embryos. We detected a length polymorphism in a growth hormone gene (GH-2) intron that is caused by an 81 bp insertion homologous to the 3' end of the salmonid short interspersed repetitive element (SINE) SmaI. Such insertion polymorphisms within species bring into question the use of SINEs as phylogenetic markers. We confirmed that a microsatellite locus encodes a PCR-null allele that is responsible for an apparent deficit of heterozygotes in a population sample from Prince William Sound. Another set of microsatellite primers amplified alleles of the same molecular weight from both loci of a duplicated pair. In our analysis of several PCR-based multilocus techniques, we failed to detect evidence of comigrating fragments produced by duplicated loci. Segregation analysis of PCR-based markers using gynogenetic haploid embryos ensures that the interpretation of molecular variation is not complicated by heterozygosity, diploidy, or gene duplication. We urge investigators to test the inheritance of polymorphisms in salmonids prior to using them to measure genetic variation.     

A major histocompatibility locus in fish: serological identification and segregation of transplantation antigens in the common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.)

In this study, experiments are described that were designed to investigate whether fish have an immune regulatory systems similar to the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) in higher vertebrate species. From combinations of gynogenetic carp showing either slow of fast rejection of skin transplants, the latter were chosen for alloantiserum production by hyperimmunization with peripheral blood leucocytes. The resulting alloantisera were analyzed for hemagglutinating reactivity with gynogenetic siblings and proved to be operationally monoscpecific in absorption experiments. The serologically determined carp erythrocyte specificites were shown to correspond to two codominantly expressed allelic products of a single locus and were designated K1 and K2, respectively. Flow cytometer analysis revealed that the same products are also present on leucocytes from peripheral blood, thymus, spleen, and pronephros.K1-andK2-homozygous second-generation gynogenetic siblings were used to study the histocompatibiligy nature of the K locus products. Skin transplants between K-allogeneic gynogenetic siblings were rejected significantly faster than within K-syngeneic combinations. Taken together, these data suggest that theK locus incorporates MHC class I-like characteristics.     

Microsatellite analysis of different ploidy offspring of artificial gynogenesis in Cyprinus carpio

Gynogenesis was induced by using UV-irradiated spermatozoa of blunt snout bream Megalobrama amblycephala to activate eggs of common carp Cyprinus carpio. The maternal genome was then duplicated by cold shock in 0 to 4° C cold water to retain the second polar body. Two kinds of fry, normal fry and abnormal tortuous fry, were hatched. Their DNA content was measured by flow cytometry. The normal fry were identified as diploid, representing the successful gynogenesis in C. carpio whereas the abnormal tortuous fry were haploid. Ten microsatellite loci were used to study the genetic diversity among C. carpio, diploid gynogenetic C. carpio and unduplicated haploid tortuous fry. The results indicated that the genetic homozygosity of gynogenetic C. carpio was significantly higher than that of C. carpio. The genetic homozygosity of the haploid C. carpio was intermediate between that of gynogenetic C. carpio and C. carpio. It might be easier for the allogenetic DNA fragments to be integrated into the haploid genome than into diploid gynogenetic genome.     

Colony Specificity in the Colonial Tunicate Botryllus and the Origins of Vertebrate Immunity

SYNOPSIS. Colonies of the compound tunicate Botryllus show thecapacity for self—nonself discrimination by fusion betweenseparated pieces of the same colony and rejection between piecesof unrelated colonies. We have found that genes controllingthis colony specificity are similar to those which cause transplantrejection in the vertebrates. Like the loci within the vertebratemajor histocompatibility complex (MHC), Botryllus fusibility(or histocompatibility) genes are highly polymorphic. In Botryllus,the histocompatibility complex also controls self—sterility,and limits cross—fertilization between colonies sharinghistocompatibility alleles. The mouse MHC, the H-2 region, islinked to loci which also affect the frequencies of allelesat H-2 loci in mouse populations. Thus both systems containcharacters which could act to promote the heterozygous conditionat the linked histocompatibility loci. We suggest that suchlinked characters are responsible for the evolution of allogeneicpolymorphism in vertebrates (however currently maintained),and that tunicate fusibility loci may be the evolutionary precursorsof vertebrate MHC genes.     

Histocompatibility antigens and immunoglobulin genes in the clawed toad: Espression and linkage studies in recombinant and hyperdiploidxenopus hybrids

Hybrids betweenXenopus laevis andXenopus gilli can express species specific antigens recognizable by immunological techniques. The expression of various markers such as immunoglobulins, cell surface antigens, and major histocompatibility complex antigens, has been studied in three different types of models that help in linkage study and in gene mapping: 1) recombinant diploid gynogenetic animals, 2) recombinant diploid backcross progeny, and 3) a panel of hyperdiploid animals having supernumerarygilli chromosomes.The results are as follows: The major histocompatibility complex and immunoglobulin heavy chain genes are not closely linked. Somegilli red blood cells antigen, detected by aX. laevis antiserum, andgilli heavy chain genes belong to different linkage groups. The major histocompatibility complex is far from the centromere, as evidenced by the high frequency of crossing over detected at this locus in the gynogenetic progeny of a hybrid female. A negative correlation was found between the expression of onegilli red cell antigen and the expression of particulargilli anti-DNP antibodies. The above mentionedgilli antigen seems to depend on chromosom 9. Chromosome 12 can be definitely excluded from participation in heavy chain synthesis. Chromosomes 8 and 9 are unlikely to have a direct role in heavy chain synthesis.     

Gene-Centromere Mapping in Rainbow Trout: High Interference over Long Map Distances

Ten enzyme loci were mapped in relation to their centromeres in gynogenetic diploid rainbow trout. Gene-centromere map distances, calculated under the assumption of complete interference, range from 1.1 cM for Ldh4 to 50 cM for Sod1. The Idh2 and Est1 loci are linked on the same chromosome arm.—The observation of close to 100% heterozygous gynogenetic diploids for the Sod1 and Mdh3,4 loci suggests that near-complete interference occurs on the chromosome arms carrying these loci. The high interference observed in this study and in several other species of fish may be related to the small size of fish chromosome arms.—Comparisons of map locations for the Ldh3 and Ldh4 and the Mdh3 and Mdh4 loci, which were duplicated by a tetraploid event in the evolution of salmonid fish, reveal that they are located at similar distances from their centromeres. Comparative mapping of loci duplicated longer ago shows more variation in map location.—The high proportion of heterozygotes for some loci after gynogenesis involving second polar body retention demonstrates that this is not a practical method for producing homozygous inbred lines in rainbow trout; treatments suppressing the first cell division are more promising for this purpose.     

Genetic analysis of androgenetic rainbow trout.

We analyzed a number of genetic characteristics in androgenetic rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and their progeny. The androgenetic progeny of individual androgenetic males appeared genetically identical to each other based on eight enzyme loci. Their viability was no higher than that of androgenetic progeny of outbred males. Homozygous androgenetic female rainbow trout produced very poor quality eggs. When common eggs and sperm from outbred individuals were used to produce androgenetic and gynogenetic progeny, the yield of gynogenetic progeny was higher but some were heterozygous at protein loci, while no androgenetic progeny were heterozygous. Some androgenetic diploid rainbow trout were successfully produced from cryopreserved sperm. The progeny of some androgenetic males crossed to normal females were virtually all males, while the progeny of other males were virtually all females. This suggests that both XX and YY androgenetic individuals may develop as males. Androgenesis is likely to be useful for generating homozygous clones for research and for recovering strains from cryopreserved sperm.     

Microsatellite-centromere mapping in the loach, Misgurnus anguillicaudatus

Primer sets for 15 polymorphic microsatellite loci were developed in the loach, Misgurnus anguillicaudatus (Cobitidae) by molecular cloning and sequencing techniques. Mendelian inheritance was confirmed for the 15 loci by examining the genotypic segregation produced with the primer sets in two full-sib families. The loci were mapped in relation to their centromere in four gynogenetic diploid lines, which were induced by inhibition of the second meiotic division after fertilization with genetically inert sperm. Microsatellite-centromere recombination rates ranged between 0.06 and 0.95 under the assumption of complete interference. Thus, these loci are distributed from the centromeres to the telomeres of their respective chromosomes. The success of mitotic gynogenesis, produced by suppression of the first cleavage, was verified by homozygosity at three diagnostic microsatellite loci that exhibited high gene-centromere meiotic recombination rates in the same family. The differences in heterozygosity levels observed with these markers were attributed to differences in the temporal application of heat shock following inert sperm activation.     

The use of chimeric mice in studying the effects of genomic imprinting

This is a review of the data of clonal analysis of developing tissues in parthenogenetic and androgenetic chimeric mice. The time and causes of death of the parthenogenetic and androgenetic cell clones in chimeras are considered. The data obtained suggest that the development of cell clones, derivatives of the mesoderm and endoderm, is determined by the expression of alleles of the imprinted loci of paternal chromosomes, while the formation of cell clones, derivatives of the ectoderm, depends on the expression of other imprinted loci of maternal chromosomes. The death of androgenetic and parthenogenetic (gynogenetic) mammalian embryos is due to the lack of the expression of certain imprinted loci of the maternal and paternal genome, respectively.     

Breeding Value and Variance Component Estimation from Data Containing Inbred Individuals: Application to Gynogenetic Families in Common Carp (Cyprinus Carpio L.)

Under gynogenetic reproduction, offspring receive genes only from their dams and completely homozygous offspring are produced within one generation. When gynogenetic reproduction is applied to fully inbred individuals, homozygous clone lines are produced. A mixed model method was developed for breeding value and variance component estimation in gynogenetic families, which requires the inverse of the numerator relationship matrix. A general method for creating the inverse for a population with unusual relationships between animals is presented, which reduces to simple rules as is illustrated for gynogenetic populations. The presence of clones in gynogenetic populations causes singularity of the numerator relationship matrix. However, clones can be regarded as repeated observations of the same genotype, which can be accommodated by modifying the incidence matrix, and by considering only unique genotypes in the estimation procedure. Optimum gynogenetic sib family sizes for estimating heritabilities and estimates of their accuracy were derived and compared to those for conventional full-sib designs. This was done by means of a deterministic derivation and by stochastic simulation using Gibbs sampling. Optimum family sizes were smallest for gynogenetic families. Only for low heritabilities, there was a small advantage in accuracy under the gynogenetic design.