Application of recombinant DNA technologies to studies on chicken growth hormone

Abstract

Messenger RNA isolated from chicken pituitaries was used to construct a chicken pituitary cDNA library. A chicken growth hormone cDNA clone was isolated using 32P-labeled mammalian growth hormone cDNA probes. The amino acid sequence (derived from the DNA sequence) of the mature form of chicken growth hormone shows 77% homology with that of bovine growth hormone. The chicken growth hormone cDNA clone was used to generate a vector capable of producing chicken growth hormone in Escherichia coli. The recombinant E. coli-derived chicken growth hormone was similar to pituitary chicken growth hormone in several biochemical and immunological properties. The recombinant-derived hormone has been used to establish a sensitive radioimmunoassay for growth hormone determinations made from chicken sera. The chicken growth hormone gene has also been introduced into a retroviral vector capable of establishing productive infections of chicken cells both in in vitro and in vivo. The resulting infections are accompanied by the production of radioimmunoassay-detectable growth hormone. The concentrations of growth hormone in sera of Leghorn chickens infected with the recombinant retrovirus are three- to tenfold higher than in control animals.

Germline transmission of exogenous genes in chickens using helper-free ecotropic avian leukosis virus-based vectors

“…It is also possible to obtain avian germline chimaeras using isolated primordial germ cells (Yasuda et al, 1992) and to introduce foreign DNA into primordial germ cells before grafting (Sawa et al, 1991). In other attempts, foreign DNA has been inserted into chicken germlines by injecting either replication competent avian leukosis viruses (Souza et al, 1984;Salter et al, 1986Salter et al, , 1987 or replication defective reticuloendotheliosis vectors (Bosselman et al, 1989a) into the embryo before incubation. Replication competent retroviral vectors have disadvantages since they increase the potential for disease states associated with chronic viral infection (Hayward et al, 1981;Nouri-Daloii et al, 1981).…”

Physiological studies on the sex-linked dwarfism of the fowl: a review on the search for the gene's primary effect

“…From another point of view, molecular genetics can offer a new tool to test the hypothesis of an abnormal GH hormone or GH receptor in the dwarf. The gene for chicken GH has been cloned (Souza et al, 1984) and could be used as a probe to detect a structural difference of the GH gene between dwarf and normal chicks, according to the method of restriction fragment length polymorphism. This difference should not be connected with the antigenic properties of the hormone, since it is normally recognized with the usual radioimmunoassays.…”

Biotechnology and production-related hormones

“…The cloning and expression of recombinant-DNA-derived chicken GH (recGH) has been described by Souza et al (1984).…”