Fast development of genetically uniform strains by gynogenesis in Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus)

The Japanese flounder is a major species in both aquaculture and research. Inbred strains of Japanese flounder were developed efficiently in our laboratory by meiotic and mitotic gynogenetic reproduction techniques. To determine the induction efficiency of gynogenesis and the rate at which full homozygosity is produced, six meiotic gynogenetic females (G1-G6) that had experienced meiotic gynogenesis once and three common females (C1-C3) were selected for production of mitotic gynogenesis in our experiments. Of the nine adult females, all six gynogenetic fish successfully produced viable offspring. However, only one of the three common fish did. Using microsatellite markers, we estimated the homozygosity of gynogenetic fish induced by mitotic gynogenesis. We found that the homozygosity of seven lines (C1, G1-G6) increased quickly, individually from 43%, 72%, 69%, 71%, 78%, 69% and 58% to 100%, 100%, 100%, 90%, 100%, 100% and 90% offspring complete homozygosity. Under mitotic gynogenesis, individuals with higher homozygosity had a higher induction rate. The G4 line showed the highest induction rate, achieving 44.59% convert hatching rate and 29.28% convert normality rate. We conclude that meiotic gynogenesis may be a feasible method to produce DH genetic material in Japanese flounder.