Knockout of Zebrafish Ovarian Aromatase Gene (cyp19a1a) by TALEN and CRISPR/Cas9 Leads to All-male Offspring Due to Failed Ovarian Differentiation.

ABSTRACT: Sexual or gonadal differentiation is a complex event and its mechanism remains elusive in teleosts. Despite its complexity and plasticity, the process of ovarian differentiation is believed to involve gonadal aromatase (cyp19a1a) in nearly all species studied. However, most data concerning the role of aromatase have come from gene expression analysis or studies involving pharmacological approaches. There has been a lack of genetic evidence for the importance of aromatase in gonadal differentiation, especially the timing when the enzyme starts to exert its effect. This is due to the lack of appropriate loss-of-function approaches in fish models for studying gene functions. This situation has changed recently with the development of genome editing technologies, namely TALEN and CRISPR/Cas9.

SUBMITTER: Lau ES 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5120357 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature