Generation of transgenic rats with YACs and BACs: preparation procedures and integrity of microinjected DNA

The aim of the present study was to investigate differences in the methods for preparing a large DNA fragment to be used for making transgenic rats from the standpoint of transgenic production efficiency and integrity of the introduced gene. In yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) transgenesis, three methods for preparing DNA for microinjection were compared: amplification of YAC in yeast (AMP), amplification of YAC in yeast and removal of the amplification element (AMP/RE), and no amplification of the YAC in yeast (AMP-). Production efficiency per microinjected ovum with DNA by the AMP method was four times higher than that by the AMP/RE and AMP-. Based on these results, we favor the AMP method in spite of the thymidine kinase gene-induced male sterility. In bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) transgenesis, linear DNA fragments for microinjection prepared by three kinds of purification procedures were compared: Not I digestion and CsCl gradient ultra-centrifugation (Prep. 1), CsCl gradient ultra-centrifugation, Not I digestion, gel electrophoresis, and beta-agarase digestion (Prep. 2), and CsCl gradient ultra-centrifugation, Not I digestion, pulse field gel electrophoresis, and beta-agarase digestion (Prep. 3). Although the efficiency of producing transgenic rats was similar with all these three DNA preparations, integration of the intact DNA fragment only occurred with the Prep. 3 procedure. We therefore favor the Prep. 3 method for preparing BAC DNA fragments. These results indicate that the method used to prepare a large DNA fragment such as YAC and BAC DNAs is important in order to produce transgenic rats with an intact transgene.