• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.183-193
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• 2015

Several transgenic marine medaka Oryzias dancena strains harboring a green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter construct regulated by an endogenous ${\beta}$-actin promoter were established and their expression characteristics in relation to transgene copy numbers were examined in 21 transgene genotypes. Most of the transgenic strains displayed transgene insertion patterns typical of microinjection-mediated introduction of foreign DNA into fish embryos, characterized by the random integration of multiple transgene copies (ranging from 1 - 282 copies per cell), often accompanied by the formation of concatemer(s), as assessed by genomic Southern blot hybridization analysis and qPCR. Transgenic strains showed ubiquitous and continued temporal and spatial expression patterns of the transgenic GFP during most of their life cycle, from the embryonic stage to adulthood, enabling assessment of the expression pattern of the endogenous ${\beta}$-actin gene. However, a comparative evaluation of transgene copy numbers and expression levels showed that copy number-dependent expression, the stability of the ubiquitous distribution and expression efficiency per transgene copy varied among the transgenic strains. Fluorescence expression levels were positively correlated with absolute transgene copy numbers, whereas the expression efficiency per transgene copy was inversely related to the number of transgene integrant copies. Data from this study will guide the selection of potentially desirable transgenic strains with ubiquitous expression of a fluorescent transgene, not only in this marine medaka species but also in other related model fish species.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.331-347
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• 2016

Sexual dimorphism is the most conspicuous difference between the sexes. This study examines possible sexual dimorphism and the relative growth patterns of morphometric characteristics in the marine medaka, Oryzias dancena for their potential to help differentiate between males and females of this species. The von Bertalanffy growth parameters estimated by a non-linear regression method were $L_{\infty}=30.2mm$, K=3.22/year, and ${\tau}_0=-0.05$. All 18 characteristics measured showed a difference between males and females from 70 days after hatching. Each of these characteristics were significantly different between sexes (ANCOVA, P<0.05), and the ratio of standard length between sexes showed that males were larger than females for all five morphometric measurements. Fin length measurements were taken for 21 distances of anal fin and 7 distances of dorsal fin between landmarks. There were all differences for all dorsal fin rays between the males and the females and there is significant difference in 70 days after their hatch when the sexual dimorphism is presented. The significant difference (P<0.05) in fin ray for male and female was more greatly seen as they grow. Male marine medaka showed more rapid growth than females, with longer length, dorsal fins and anal fins. Differences in these characteristics will be useful during experiments when it is necessary to differentiate between sexes of marine medaka.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.73-80
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• 2015

To examine the interrelationship between transgenic insertion patterns and transgene expression profiles in established transgenic fish lines, four stable transgenic marine medaka Oryzias dancena germlines harboring ${\beta}$-actin regulator-driven RFP reporter constructs were selected. The established transgenic strains were characterized with regard to their transgenic genotypes (insertion pattern, concatemer formation, and transgene copy number based on genomic Southern blot hybridization and qPCR assay) and expression characteristics at the mRNA (qRT-PCR), protein (western blot), and phenotypic (fluorescent appearance) levels. From comparative examinations, it was found that transgenic expression at both the transcription and translation levels could be significantly downregulated in transgenic strains, potentially through methylation-mediated transgene silencing that was particularly associated with the formation of a long tail-to-head tandem concatemer in the chromosomal integration site(s). When this occurred, an inverse relationship between the transgene copy number and fluorescence intensity was observed in the resultant transgenic fish. However, with the other transgenic genotype, transgenic individuals with an identical Southern blot hybridization pattern, containing a tandem concatemer(s), had very different expression levels (highly robust vs. low expression strengths), which was possibly related to the differential epigenetic modifications and/or degrees of methylation. The concatemer-dependent downregulation of transgene activity could be induced in transgenic fish, but the overall pattern was strain-specific. Our data suggest that neither a low (or single) transgene copy number nor tandem transgene concatemerization is indicative of strong or silenced transgene expression in transgenic fish carrying a ubiquitous transgene. Hence, a sufficient number of transgenic lineages, with different genotypes, should be considered to ensure the establishment of the best-performance transgenic line(s) for practical applications.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.333-344
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• 2019

In vertebrate reproductive system, estrogen receptor (ER) plays a pivotal role in mediation of estrogenic signaling pathways. In the present study, we report the cDNA cloning, expression analysis, and transcriptional activity of ERβ1 subtype from medaka Oryzias dancena. The deduced O. dancena ERβ1 (odERβ1; 519 amino acids) contained six characteristic A/B to E/F domains with very short activation function 2 region (called AF2). A phylogenetic analysis indicated that odERβ1 was highly conserved among teleost ERβ1 subgroup. A conventional RT-PCR revealed that the odERβ1 transcripts were widely distributed in the multiple tissues, the ovary, brain, gill, intestine, kidney, and muscle. Further, the relatively higher odERβ1 expressions in the ovary and brain were clearly reproduced in RT-qPCR assay. When HA-fused odERβ1 expression vector was transfected into HEK293 cells, an immunoreactivity for odERβ1 was mainly detected in the nucleus part. Finally, an estrogen responsive element driven luciferase reporter assays demonstrated that the transcriptional activity of odERβ1 significantly increased by estradiol-17β (E2) in a dose dependent manner (p<0.05). However, fold-activation of odERβ1 in the presence of E2 was markedly weak, when it compared with those of O. latipes ERβ1. Taken together, these data suggest that odERβ1 represents a functional variant of teleost ERβ subtype and provides a basic tool allowing future studies examining the function of F domain of ERβ1 subtype and expanding our knowledge of ERβ evolution.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.221-231
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• 2012

The marine medaka Oryzias dancena choriogenin H gene (odChgH) and its mRNA expression during estradiol-$17{\beta}$ (E2) exposure were characterized. At the amino acid level, the choriogenin H protein is predicted to possess the conserved repetitive N-terminal region, as well as zona pellucida (ZP) and Trefoil factor family (TFF) domains. At the genomic level, odChgH has an eight-exon organization with a distribution pattern of transcription factor binding sites in the 5'-upstream region, which is commonly found in other estrogen-responsive genes. The tissue distribution pattern of odChgH mRNA was found to be gender-specific, whereby females showed a higher expression level and wider tissue distribution than did males. During embryonic development, odChgH mRNA was robustly detected from the stage of visceral blood vessel formation. Experimental E2 exposure of males resulted in odChgH mRNA being induced not only in the liver, but also in other several tissues. The E2-mediated induction was fairly dose-dependent. The basal expression levels of hepatic odChgH mRNA were lower in males that were acclimated to 30 ppt salinity than in those acclimated to 0 or 15 ppt salinity. In contrast, the inducibility of odChgH mRNA during E2 exposure was greater in seawater-acclimated fish than in brackish water- or freshwater-acclimated fish.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.23 no.3 s.59
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• pp.293-303
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• 2005

Japanese medaka, Oryzias latipes is widely distributed in the North East Asia including Korea, Japan and east China, and commonly used for freshwater toxicity tests and cytotoxicological studies worldwide. In this study, a series of experiments were conducted to identify the potential of the fish as a standard test species for saltwater toxicity evaluation such as marine receiving waters, ocean-dumped materials and sediment pore waters etc. Hatching, growth and mortality rates of the fish were estimated with the wide ranges of salinity from freshwater to seawater (35 psu). Direct exposure of the fertilized eggs in freshwater to the wide ranges of salinity (from 0 to 35 psu) without pre- acclimation to the saltwater revealed no significant differences in hatching rates by salinities (p =0.24). On the other hand, medaka larvae hatched in freshwater and exposed to saltwater directly showed high mortality at > 25 psu treatment groups (p < 0.0001). However, there was no significant difference in mortality of medaka larvae hatched in 13.8 and 14.2 psu at the wide ranges of salinities ($0\~35$ psu). Growth rates of medaka larvae hatched in the above two salinities showed no differences in body length either from 0 to 35 psu treatment groups (p =0.64 for 13.8 psu group and p=0.32 for 14.2 psu group). The number of gill chloride cell in medaka larvae sharply increased when the larvae were exposed to high salinity. Reference tests with zinc chloride revealed 96h $LC_{50}=8.84(7.19\~10.87)mg\;L^{-1}$ using 7~10 day old medaka larvae. These were comparable or better sensitivity in comparison with the other standard test species such as North American sheepshead minnow Cyprinodon variegatus. Based on the results of these experiments, hatching rates and larvalmortality of medaka must be good toxicity parameters for seawater bioassay and the species seems to be a good standard species for both the freshwater and seawater toxicity test.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.177-185
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• 2013

The development of species-specific fish cell lines has become a valuable tool for biological research. In recent years, marine medaka Oryzias dancena has been recognized as a good experimental model fish but there are no reports of establishment of cell lines from this fish. In this study, two cell lines from O. dancena blastula embryos were established from 41 total trials (4.9%). The two cell lines displayed typical in vitro morphology and have been cultured for >121 passages, which corresponds to 293 days. The doubling times of the cell lines were 29.84 and 28.59 h, respectively, and both possessed the potential to expand in a clonal manner, albeit with significant differences between the two cell lines. The absence of any of the four main medium supplements; i.e., fish serum, fetal bovine serum, basic fibroblast growth factor, and medaka embryo extract, significantly inhibited growth. The proportion of cells possessing normal chromosome number was 45% and 46.7% of the cell lines, respectively. Taken together, two cell lines that proliferate continuously were established from marine medaka and these cell lines may provide a basic tool for characterizing the unique features of this fish species.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.220-226
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• 2012

The aim of this study is to observe the reproductive behavior of the marine medaka, Oryzias dancena, and determine the factors of reproductive behavior to provide useful information for improving their artificial reproduction techniques. The reproductive behavior of the marine medaka was observed in laboratory aquaria. Once the experiment began, all of the males chased the females. The males attempted to stimulate the urogenital openings of the females. While chasing a female, a large male would bite a relatively small male's anus. Larger males expelled smaller males with biting, and the defeated males were barred from the female. After the other males were expelled, the remaining male approached and drew alongside the female. The male's dorsal and anal fins covered the female's body. Spawning began after complete covering took place. Spawning of males and females occurred simultaneously. The loadings for 2 factors were calculated. The calculation was restricted to 2 factors because these 2 factors explained about 81% of the total common variance (P<0.05) and the following factors possessed no practical significance. Two movements (biting, expelling) had high positive values for factor one. This factor related a male's defensive behavior to courtship behavior and spawning, and explained 23.1% of the total common variance (P<0.05). The second factor had high positive values for chasing, rejection, covering, and parallel swimming. This factor related a male's courtship behavior and female's defensive behavior to spawning, and explained 59.7% of the total common variance (P<0.05). This research provided basic biological data for the conservation of this species and useful information for improving their artificial reproduction techniques.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.70-76
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• 2013

Some fish live in aquatic environments with low or temporally changing $O_2$ availability. Variation in dissolved oxygen (DO) levels requires behavioral, physiological, and biochemical adaptations to ensure the uptake of sufficient $O_2$. Several species are relatively well adapted to tolerate low $O_2$ partial pressures (hypoxia). The medaka (Oryzias dancena ) is an important model organism for biomedical research that shows remarkable tolerance to hypoxia. We investigated the regulation and role of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-$1{\alpha}$) as a general hypoxia-response gene and stanniocalcin-2 (STC2), which is one of the genes regulated by HIF-$1{\alpha}$ in mammals under hypoxia. We subjected adult male medaka to the following three acute hypoxia regimes: 1, 24, and 72 h at DO = $1.8{\pm}0.5$ ppm. The changes in STC2 and HIF-$1{\alpha}$ mRNA were monitored using quantitative real-time reverse-transcription PCR. We found strong upregulation of HIF-$1{\alpha}$ mRNA in the livers of fish exposed to hypoxia. Hypoxia rapidly upregulated STC-2 mRNA expression in muscle, but not in the brain, gills, liver, or intestine. Therefore, unlike in mammals, hypoxia might regulate O. dancena STC-2 expression in an HIF-$1{\alpha}$-independent manner.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.735-740
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• 2019

The aim of this study was to conduct a comparative analysis of the diploid and induced triploid cell cycles in marine medaka, Oryzias dancena, tissues. The mean fraction of cells in the G₁, S, and G₂+M phases was 85.5%, 7.6%, and 6.9%, respectively, in the tail fin tissues of diploid fish and 91.2%, 3.6%, and 5.2%, respectively, in those of induced triploid fish. The mean fraction of cells in the G₁, S, and G₂+M phases were 78.4%, 10.6%, and 11.0%, respectively, in the liver tissues of diploid fish; 86.2%, 5.9%, and 7.9%, respectively, in those of induced triploid; 79.3%, 9.4%, and 11.3%, respectively, in the gill tissues of diploid fish; and 85.7%, 5.4%, and 8.9%, respectively, in the induced triploid fish. The differences among the tissues were statistically significant within both the diploid and induced triploid fish (p<0.05). Mitosis was more active in each tissue of the diploid fish than in the corresponding tissues of the induced triploid fish and mitosis was more active in the liver and gill tissues than in the tail fin tissues in both the diploid and induced triploid marine medaka.