Aquaculture America 2024

February 18 - 21, 2024

San Antonio, Texas

PRODUCTION OF XENOGENIC CATFISH BY TRANSPLANTING BLUE CATFISH Ictalurus furcatus AND CHANNEL CATFISH Ictalurus punctatus STEM CELLS INTO WHITE CATFISH Ameiurus catus TRIPLOID FRY

Darshika Hettiarachchi*,  Logan Bern, Jacob Al-Armanazi, Kate Pottle, Barrett Chambers,  Sean Parham, Baofeng Su, Mei Shang, Jinhai Wang, Ian A.E. Butts, Rex A. Dunham

 

   School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, 36849

 duh0001@auburn.edu

 



 Xenogenesis has been identified as a potential alternative for hybrid catfish (channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus ♀ × blue catfish, I. furcatus ♂) embryo production. The xenogenesis process can be accomplished by transplanting primordial germ cells, spermatogonial or oogonial stem cells derived from a donor diploid fish into a sterile recipient . Xenogenesis for  hybrid catfish  embryo production has been accomplished using triploid channel catfish as hosts. However, having a host with a short maturation time  and smaller body size  than channel catfish  would be ideal for  rapid commercial application . Hence,  the  present study was conducted to assess the effectiveness  of triploid white catfish (Ameiurus catus) as a host species  to transplant blue catfish stem cells  (BSCs) and channel catfish stem cells (CSCs) to produce xenogeneic  broodstock.  Triploid white catfish fry were injected with either BSCs or CSCs labeled with PKH26 dye from 0 to 12 days post-hatch (DPH). Then at 45 and 90 DPH, growth performance and survival of recipients were evaluated. Colonization of donor cells was evaluated in recipients using PKH26 dye fluorescence to calculate percent cell and cluster areas . PCR  was utilized to determine the percentage xenogens .

 No significant differences in  body weight and total length of fry  were detected among  injection day treatments when sampled at 45 and 90 DPH (P > 0.05).  Overall,  survival increased between 0 to 5.5 DPH  when  white catfish triploids were  injected with  BSCs or CSCs and  highest survival was reported  for fry injected  between 4.0 to 5.5 DPH. After 5.5 DPH, survival remained high (≥  81.2%).  At  both 45 and 90 DPH, cell and cluster area  increased for  recipients  injected  from 0 to 5.2 DPH and highest values reported between 4.0  to 5.2 DPH.  Thereafter, fluorescent cell and cluster area in the host declined with no further decrease  after 10 DPH.  At 45 DPH, the highest percentage of xenogens were detected in BSCs  and CSCs  treatments  for fry injected between 4 .0 to 5.0 and 3.0 to 5.0 DPH , respectively. At 90 DPH, the greatest mean number of xenogenic individuals detected was for fry injected  from 4.0 to 6.0 DPH in both BSCs and CSCs treatments. The current study demonstrated  the suitability of white catfish as a host species when stem cells were transplanted between 4.0 to 6.0 DPH, and these findings  allow enhanced efficiency of production of xenogenic catfish carrying gametes of either blue or channel catfish.