Chapter 17 Intraperitoneal Germ Cell Transplantation Technique in Marine Teleosts

Abstract

Transplantation of pre-meiotic germ cells, harvested from juvenile or adult fish, into the body cavity of allogeneic or xenogeneic recipients sterilized by triploidization or endogenous germ cell depletion, results in their migration into genital ridges where they are eventually incorporated. These germ cells initiate either spermatogenesis or oogenesis in the recipient gonads, depending on the sex of the recipient. Furthermore, by mating male and female germ-cell-transplanted recipients, viable offspring are derived. Although this technology, called the “surrogate broodstock technology,” was established using salmonid fish, we found that it is applicable to a wide variety of fish species including commercially valuable marine teleosts. Thus, we believe that this method will prove to be a novel fish breeding technology for preserving the valuable genetic resources of both aquaculture and endangered fish species. This chapter describes our recent findings regarding the improvements in germ cell manipulation and transplantation in marine teleosts.