Identification of Transferred Chicken Germ Cells in Quail Gonad and Semen by Amplification of Chicken-Specific PCR Products

Abstract

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primer set for a chicken microsatellite locus on the Z chromosome, LEI0171 (GenBank Accession No.X85538), amplified a 363bp fragment of genomic DNA in chickens (Gallus domesticus) but not in quail (Coturnix japonica). A concentration of at least 10pg/μl of chicken DNA in the reaction mixture resulted in detectable amplification of the PCR product. Circulating primordial germ cells (PGCs) of chick embryos were transfused into quail embryos, and the chicken-genome-specific PCR product was observed in the chick-PGC-transfused chimeric quail when DNA samples were extracted from whole day-6 embryos, day-10 and -15 embryonic gonads, gonads of 5-day chicks, and the semen of adults.

Keywords

• microsatellite dna
• chicken
• pcr
• primordial germ cells
• quail