Elsevier

Aquaculture

Volume 305, Issues 1–4, 1 July 2010, Pages 174-177
Aquaculture

Short communication
Meiotic gynogenesis revealed not homogametic female sex determination system in Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baeri Brandt)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2010.04.011Get rights and content

Abstract

Meiotic gynogenesis was induced in a Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baeri Brandt) by heat shock after egg activation with UV-irradiated sperm of a hybrid Siberian sturgeon × Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedti Brandt). Microsatellite DNA analysis was applied for verification of unipaternal inheritance in the gynogenetic diploid group of fish. All the analyzed gynogenetic diploids possessed only maternal genotype in the examined experimental group of fish. Histological analysis of gonads of 50 gynogenetic diploids, obtained from one family, showed 81% of females and 19% of males. The observed sex ratio suggested that the Siberian sturgeon does not have a female homogametic sex determination system.

Introduction

Genome manipulation, especially gynogenesis, is attractive for studying the sex determination mechanism in sturgeons and for production of all-female progeny of this fish (Mims et al., 1997, Pandian & Koteeswaran, 1998, Devlin & Nagahama, 2002). All-female stocks of sturgeon could be very useful for farmed black caviar production despite the decline of natural sturgeon populations.

Genome manipulations should be verified by the ploidy level investigation and unipaternal inheritance confirmation. In recent years, precise and sensitive methods based on microsatellite DNA analysis have been applied to monitor uniparental inheritance after meiotic gynogenesis on shortnose sturgeon, bester, sterlet and Siberian sturgeon (Flynn et al., 2006, Omoto et al., 2005, Fopp-Bayat et al., 2007, Fopp-Bayat, 2007). In such kind of study, a minimum of two carefully selected diagnostic loci in the offspring are sufficient to confirm exclusively maternal contribution. Selection of 2 loci is recommended, taking into consideration the mutation rate at these loci and the possible existence of paternal residual transmission in some offspring analyzed (Thorgaard et al., 1985). Molecular techniques based on microsatellite DNA analysis are non-invasive because they require only a small piece of tissue (e.g., a fin clip).

Gynogenesis in fish has been studied in the past few decades with respect to its potential value in experimental genetics and aquaculture (Thorgaard et al., 1985, Pandian & Koteeswaran, 1998, Arai, 2001). In Acipenseridae, gynogenesis has been successfully induced in some species, for example in white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus (Van Eenennaam et al., 1996), shovelnose sturgeon Scaphirhynchus platorynchus (Mims and Shelton, 1998), Russian sturgeon Acipenser gueldenstaedti (Recoubratsky et al., 2003), stellate sturgeon Acipenser stellatus (Recoubratsky et al., 2003, Saber et al., 2008), bester Huso huso × Acipenser ruthenus (Omoto et al., 2005), shortnose sturgeon Acipenser brevirostrum (Flynn et al., 2006), sterlet Acipenser ruthenus (Fopp-Bayat et al., 2007) and Siberian sturgeon Acipenser baeri (Fopp-Bayat, 2007). The sex determination system has been described only in white sturgeon and bester (Van Eenennaam et al., 1996, Omoto et al., 2005). These two species are characterized by the ZW female heterogametic sex determination system.

The objective of the present study was to study the sex determination system in gynogenetic diploids of Siberian sturgeon Acipenser baeri.

Section snippets

Experimental design

The experiments described in this paper were conducted in 2006–2009. The first step of this research involved induction of meiotic gynogenesis in Siberian sturgeon. For activation of eggs, UV-irradiated sperm of the hybrid of Siberian sturgeon × Russian sturgeon was used. One female of Siberian sturgeon and one male of the hybrid of Siberian sturgeon × Russian sturgeon provided all the gametes used for this study. Induction of ovulation and spermiation of fish were described by Fopp-Bayat (2007).

Results

Hatching rates of gynogenetic haploid group 14% while hatching rates of gynogenetic diploid group 22% (Table 1).

All microsatellite loci were amplified for the parents of the gynogenetic group of fish and three primers pair (Afu-68, Spl-113 and Spl-168) were classified as reliable tools for identification of gynogenetic offspring. From the three loci (Afu-68, Spl-113 and Spl-168), two (Afu-68 and Spl-168) were selected for gynogenetic offspring identification. As a result, 30 fish from the

Discussion

Gynogenesis is a useful research technique but with limited applications on commercial production due to the complicated protocols, low survival rates and increased inbreeding. This technique is especially useful in the study of sex determination system in fish. In sturgeons, the mechanism of sex determination cannot be detected cytogenetically. If there is no cytogenetic evidence of sex determination there are several another methods that can be helpful in study of sex determination in fish,

Acknowledgments

The study was supported by scientific project MNiSW no. N311 010 32/0654. I would like to thank Ms Elzbieta Fopp and Mr Andrzej Fopp from Wasosze Fish Farm for kindly providing fish for the study. I am also grateful to Ryszard Kolman and Miroslaw Szczepkowski for their assistance during the experiments, to Pawel Woznicki for his help during the experiments and laboratory analysis and to Elzbieta Ziomek for her help in histological investigation. I also thank anonymous Reviewers' for valuable

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