Development, differentiation and manipulation of chicken germ cells

Abstract

Germ cells are the only cell type capable of transmitting genetic information to the next generation. During development, they are set aside from all somatic cells of the embryo. In many species, germ cells form at the fringe of the embryo proper and then traverse through several developing somatic tissues on their migration to the emerging gonads. Primordial germ cells (PGCs) are the only cells in developing embryos with the potential to transmit genetic information to the next generation. Unlike other species, in avian embryos, PGCs use blood circulation for transport to the future gonadal region. This unique accessibility of avian PGCs during early development provides an opportunity to collect and transplant PGCs. The recent development of methods for production of germline chimeras by transfer of PGCs, and long-term cultivation methods of chicken PGCs without losing their germline transmission ability have provided important breakthroughs for the preservation of germplasm , for the production of transgenic birds and study the germ cell system. This review will describe the development, migration, differentiation and manipulation of germ cells, and discuss the prospects that germ cell technologies offer for agriculture, biotechnology and academic research.

Leapfrogging: primordial germ cell transplantation permits recovery of CRISPR/Cas9-induced mutations in essential genes

“…Leapfrogging might also be viable in birds. PGCs have been transplanted from cultured early chick extraembryonic tissue and can contribute to the germline in recipients (van de Lavoir et al, 2006;Nakamura et al, 2013). We envision combining this technology with programmable nucleases (Park et al, 2014;Véron et al, 2015) to make leapfrogging possible in this and a number of other species.…”

Improvement of Chicken Primordial Germ Cell Maintenance In Vitro by Blockade of the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Endogenous Activity

“…Therefore, a lot of research has been conducted either to study PGCs and improve their culture (Han, 2009;Nakamura et al, 2013) or to develop new approaches and offer alternative protocols for transgenesis (Yu et al, 2014). Findings of a positive effect of AHR antagonists on the maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells in culture (Boitano et al, 2010;Carlin et al, 2013;Gasiewicz et al, 2014) led us to investigate the action of a-naphthoflavone on the in vitro expansion of chicken PGCs.…”

“…The manipulation of PGCs is very useful for producing transgenic chickens and also for preserving genetic material in avian species (Nakamura et al, 2010(Nakamura et al, , 2013Nishijima and Iijima, 2013). A lot of research has focused, therefore, on the study of PGCs and the way of improving their culture, since the major obstacle is to amplify these cells without losing their pluripotent properties.…”

Finding their way: themes in germ cell migration

“…Established model organisms include mice, chicken, frogs, fruitflies and two teleost fish: zebrafish and medaka [8–13]. Despite divergence, features of overall path of embryonic germ cells can be remarkably similar between these species.…”