Journal or Publishing Institution: Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
Author(s): Hill, J.A., Kiessling, A. and Devlin, R.H.
Article Type: Peer Reviewed Study
Record ID: 1017
Abstract: Transgenic coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) containing a growth hormone gene construct were compared with nontransgenic coho salmon in terms of gross anatomy, muscle cellularity, muscle enzyme activity, and differential gene expression. Transgenic fish were found to have significantly higher numbers of small-diameter muscle fibres in both the dorsal and lateral region of the somitic muscle, suggesting that they grow by greater rates of hyperplasia relative to slower growing nontransgenic fish. Higher levels of activity were found for phosphofructokinase and cytochrome oxidase in white muscle of the transgenic fish. This difference indicates a higher glycolytic and aerobic requirement in the muscle of transgenic fish. Subtractive hybridisation of muscle RNA of transgenic fish from control fish provided a library of cDNAs whose expression is upregulated in the transgenic fish. This library contains genes that may be involved in, or related to, both high growth rates and muscle hyperplasia. We have sequenced a number of fragments and have found a preponderance of myosin light chain 2 mRNAs, consistent with a putative high level of expression in the early stages of muscle fibre construction.
Keywords: Oncorhynchus kisutch, salmon, aquatic animals, aquatic organisms, biotechnology, complementary DNA, cytochrome-C oxidase, enzyme activity, gene expression, genes, hyperplasia, muscle fibres, muscles, myosins, phosphofructokinase, RNA, somatotropin, transgenics, aquatic species, cDNA, Coho salmon, cytochrome oxidase, growth hormone, muscle fibers, myosin, ribonucleic acid, Oncorhynchus, Salmonidae, Salmoniformes, Osteichthyes, fishes, vertebrates, Chordata, animals, eukaryotes
Citation: Hill, J.A., Kiessling, A. and Devlin, R.H., 2000. Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) transgenic for a growth hormone gene construct exhibit increased rates of muscle hyperplasia and detectable levels of differential gene expression. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 57(5), pp.939-950.
