Hydrostatic pressure shock induced tetraploids in rice field eel (Monopterus albus)

Polyploid fish have valuable applications in aquaculture, and artificial breeding of polyploids is an important field of aquatic research. In this study, fertilized eggs (65-100 min post-fertilization (mpf)) were treated with 650-750 kg/cm2 hydrostatic pressure for 3-6 min to induce tetraploidy. The optimal rates for hatching and tetraploidization of embryos were achieved at 4.70% and 23.33%, correspondingly. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that the DNA content of tetraploidized embryo cells was approximately twice that of the wild-type. The chromosome number of the tetraploidized rice field eels was 48. In this study, artificially induced tetraploid rice field eels were able to survive, with four of them reaching 20 months of age. Measurement of erythrocyte nuclei revealed that the nuclear area of erythrocytes from tetraploids increased and was approximately twice that of the diploids. Histological analysis showed that the gonads of tetraploids developed into testes, and spermatogenetic germ cells were observed. In conclusion, a technique to induce tetraploidization has been developed for rice field eels by applying 700 or 750 kg/cm2 hydrostatic pressure on 85 mpf embryos for 5 min. The viable tetraploidized rice field eels were produced using this approach.