Nippon Suisan Kaisha, Ltd.

National University Corporation Tokyo University of Marine Science Technology

National University Corporation Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology

Kentaro Higuchi

Yutaka Takeuchi

Goro Yoshizaki

Tetsuro Morita

Naoki Kabeya

Kazue Nagasawa

In order to examine whether or not a germ cell derived from a donor fish, which has been transplanted into a recipient fish of a different species by a surrogate fish technique, grows or matures in the gonad of the recipient fish, it is necessary to use, as an indicator, a trait that is specifically expressed in the germ cell and can be used to distinguish the recipient fish from the donor fish. Vasa gene, which is a germ cell-specific gene, is specific to a primordial germ cell and a spermatogonium/an oogonium, and it is not expressed in a somatic cell. In the present invention, the Vasa gene sequences of a tuna, a chub mackerel, a spotted mackerel, an eastern little tuna, and a drumfish are determined, and the expression of such gene is used as a marker for a germ cell. In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to specifically detect only a tuna Vasa gene in Vasa gene sequences that are highly conserved in fishes, without sequencing. Thus, a tuna-derived germ cell can be reliably and simply identified in the gonad of the recipient fish. As a result, the growth or breeding of tuna can be carried out with good efficiency. Moreover, utilizing the aforementioned findings, even in a case in which not only a tuna but also another Perciformes fish is used as a donor, a germ cell derived from the donor fish can be efficiently detected from the gonad of a recipient fish of a different species.

Germ cell marker using fish vasa gene

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Kentaro Higuchi