PUBLICATION

Transfer of the zp3a gene results in changes in egg adhesiveness and buoyancy in transgenic zebrafish

Authors
Cao, Y.Q., Wang, Y.X., Zhao, Y., Zhang, J., He, X., Xie, P., Chen, J., Sun, Y.H.
ID
ZDB-PUB-230118-11
Date
2023
Source
Zoological research   44: 260269260-269 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Sun, Yuhua
Keywords
Adhesive, Buoyancy, Egg envelope, Hydration, Zona pellucida protein
MeSH Terms
  • Adhesiveness
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Animals, Genetically Modified/genetics
  • Cyprinidae*
  • Egg Proteins/genetics
  • Egg Proteins/metabolism
  • Membrane Glycoproteins/genetics
  • Membrane Glycoproteins/metabolism
  • Receptors, Cell Surface/genetics
  • Zebrafish*/genetics
  • Zona Pellucida Glycoproteins/genetics
  • Zona Pellucida Glycoproteins/metabolism
PubMed
36650065 Full text @ Zool Res
Abstract
Reproductive strategies and spawning habits play key roles in the evolution of endemic East Asian cyprinids. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of spawning habits are not well understood. We recently identified zona pellucida (Zp) as the top differentially expressed protein between East Asian cyprinids that produce adhesive and semi-buoyant eggs, suggesting that Zp protein may play important roles in the regulation of egg type. In this work, we generated transgenic zebrafish in which oocyte-specific expression of zp genes from rare minnow ( Gobiocypris rarus), an East Asian cyprinid laying adhesive eggs, was driven by a zebrafish zp3.2 gene promoter. We found that the transgenic eggs obtained partial adhesiveness and exhibited alteration in hydration and buoyancy. Abnormal metabolism of vitellogenin (VTG) may contribute to enhanced hydration and/or buoyancy. Our work shows that expression of the exogenous zp3a gene from an adhesive-egg producing fish is sufficient to induce changes in both egg adhesiveness and buoyancy in zebrafish, emphasizing the important role of zp genes in the regulation of spawning habits. Our results thus provide new insights into how endemic East Asian cyprinids may have adapted to the Yangtze river-lake system via changes in spawning habits.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping