Gene expression promoted by the RSV long terminal repeat element in transgenic goldfish

Abstract

Persistence and levels of expression of the chloramphenicol acetyltrans‐ferase (CAT) marker gene under transcriptional regulation by the 5’ long terminal repeat element of the avian Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) were examined in various tissues of transgenic goldfish, Carassius auratus. Evidence of the CAT transgene was observed in 13 of 20 test individuals, with ten individuals being apparent mosaics for the introduced construct. Above‐background acetyltrans‐ferase activity was observed in tissues from 14 individuals, most frequently and at highest levels in muscle. Acetyltransferase activities in muscle tissue of transgenic individuals were as much as fifty times background. Transgene expression, from the RSV promoter, observed in piscine muscle cells paralleled earlier observations of RSV directed gene expression in avian and mammalian systems.