1. Simple and efficient transgenesis with meganuclease constructs in zebrafish.
- Author
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Soroldoni D, Hogan BM, and Oates AC
- Subjects
- Animals, DNA genetics, DNA metabolism, Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific administration & dosage, Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific metabolism, Female, Genes, Reporter, Genetic Engineering methods, Germ-Line Mutation, Green Fluorescent Proteins, Male, Microinjections, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins administration & dosage, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins metabolism, Zebrafish embryology, Zebrafish metabolism, Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific genetics, Gene Transfer Techniques, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins genetics, Zebrafish genetics
- Abstract
In the past, microinjection of plasmid DNA into early embryos represented the state of the art to generate transgenic zebrafish. However, this approach suffers significant drawbacks (mosaic distribution of the injected transgene, late transgene integration at high copy numbers, low transgenesis frequency), making the generation of transgenic lines a laborious task. Coinjection of I-SceI meganuclease with a reporter construct flanked by I-SceI sites overcomes these problems by earlier transgene integration into the host genome. Here, we provide an optimized protocol for I-SceI meganuclease-mediated transgenesis in zebrafish. This simple protocol provides a reliable method to transiently test tissue-specific reporter expression of meganuclease constructs in injected embryos (F0). Furthermore, it substantially facilitates the generation of multiple stable transgenic lines increasing transgenesis frequencies up to 45%, compared with 5% without I-SceI. The reliable reporter activity in F0 and the improved transgenesis frequency make this protocol a powerful tool for use in gain- and loss-of-function, cell tracing, and cell labeling experiments.
- Published
- 2009
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