Ornamental Expression of Red Fluorescent Protein in Transgenic Founders of White Skirt Tetra (Gymnocorymbus ternetzi)

Abstract

Although the transgenic technology has been successfully used to generate fluorescent zebrafish and medaka for ornamental purposes, the practicability of the technology has not been demonstrated in other ornamental fish species. In the present study, we have tested the transgenic technology in a bona fide ornamental fish species, the white skirt tetra (Gymnocorymbus ternetzi). First, its embryonic development was briefly described. Second, we successfully introduced an rfp (red fluorescent protein) gene construct driven by a strong muscle-specific mylz2 promoter from the zebrafish into the white skirt tetra and demonstrated muscle-specific expression of the RFP reporter protein. Importantly, the vivid red fluorescent color was prominently visible in adult transgenic founders under the normal daylight, like the currently marketed red fluorescent transgenic zebrafish. Thus, our current study demonstrated the feasibility of using the well-characterized zebrafish mylz2 promoters to produce useful fluorescent ornamental fish in other fish species by the transgenic technology.