Genetic inactivation of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) eggs using UV-irradiation: observations and perspectives

Androgenesis is a form of uniparental reproduction leading to progenies inheriting only the paternal set of chromosomes. It has been achieved with variable success in a number of freshwater species and can be attained by artificial fertilization of genetically inactivated eggs following exposure to gamma (γ), X-ray or UV irradiation (haploid androgenesis) and by restoration of diploidy by suppression of mitosis using a pressure or thermal shock. The conditions for the genetic inactivation of the maternal genome in the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) were explored using different combinations of UV irradiation levels and durations. UV treatments significantly affected embryo survival and generated a wide range of developmental abnormalities. Despite the wide range of UV doses tested (from 7.2 to 720 mJ.cm−2), only one dose (60 mJ.cm−2.min−1 with 1 min irradiation) resulted in a small percentage (14%) of haploid larvae at hatching in the initial trials as verified by flow cyto...