1. Interspecific germline transmission of cultured primordial germ cells
- Author
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Ellen J. Collarini, T. S. Thiyagasundaram, Marie-Cecile van de Lavoir, Philip A. Leighton, Daniel R. Lu, Harriman William Don, Jeffrey Fesler, and Robert J. Etches
- Subjects
Male ,Sexual Reproduction ,Embryology ,Anatomy and Physiology ,Fowl ,Agricultural Biotechnology ,Germline ,Ornithology ,Sexual maturity ,Animal Breeding ,Galliformes ,Cells, Cultured ,Animal Management ,Genetics ,education.field_of_study ,Multidisciplinary ,Genetically Modified Organisms ,Stem Cells ,Embryo ,Agriculture ,Cell biology ,embryonic structures ,Medicine ,Female ,Research Article ,Evolutionary Processes ,animal structures ,Science ,Population ,Biology ,Cell Line ,Chimera (genetics) ,Animals ,education ,Species Extinction ,Evolutionary Biology ,Chimera ,Evolutionary Developmental Biology ,urogenital system ,Reproductive System ,biology.organism_classification ,Sperm ,Germ Cells ,Fertilization ,Veterinary Science ,Spermatogenesis ,Zoology ,Developmental Biology - Abstract
In birds, the primordial germ cell (PGC) lineage separates from the soma within 24 h following fertilization. Here we show that the endogenous population of about 200 PGCs from a single chicken embryo can be expanded one million fold in culture. When cultured PGCs are injected into a xenogeneic embryo at an equivalent stage of development, they colonize the testis. At sexual maturity, these donor PGCs undergo spermatogenesis in the xenogeneic host and become functional sperm. Insemination of semen from the xenogeneic host into females from the donor species produces normal offspring from the donor species. In our model system, the donor species is chicken (Gallus domesticus) and the recipient species is guinea fowl (Numida meleagris), a member of a different avian family, suggesting that the mechanisms controlling proliferation of the germline are highly conserved within birds. From a pragmatic perspective, these data are the basis of a novel strategy to produce endangered species of birds using domesticated hosts that are both tractable and fecund.
- Published
- 2012