MAF1 is a global suppressor of RNA polymerase III-dependent transcription, and is conserved from yeast to human. Growing evidence supports the involvement of MAF1 in the immune response of mammals, but its biological functions in fish are unknown. We isolated and characterized Maf1 from the olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus (PoMaf1). The coding region of PoMaf1 comprised 738 bp encoding a 245-amino-acid protein. The deduced PoMAF1 amino acid sequence shared features with those of MAF1 orthologues from vertebrates. PoMaf1 mRNA was detected in all tissues examined, and the levels were highest in eye and muscle tissue. The PoMaf1 mRNA level increased during early development. In addition, the PoMaf1 transcript level decreased during viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) infection of flounder hirame natural embryo (HINAE) cells. To investigate the role of PoMaf1 in VHSV infection, single-cell-derived PoMaf1 knockout HINAE cells were generated using the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated-9 (CRISPR/Cas9) system, and cell clones with complete disruption of PoMaf1 were selected. PoMaf1 disruption increased the VHSV glycoprotein (G) mRNA levels during VHSV infection of HINAE cells, implicating PoMAF1 in the immune response to VSHV infection. To our knowledge, this is the first study to characterize fish Maf1, which may play a role in the response to viral infection.

Primary cell culture is a sufficient method frequently used to study the cellular properties and mechanisms of isolated cells in a controlled environment. In this study, an embryonic cell line (FGBC8) derived from the blastula stages of embryos of olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus was developed. Furthermore, conditions for optimal long-term maintenance of this primary embryonic cell culture were investigated. Morphologically, FGBC8 cells were composed primarily of epithelial-like cells. FGBC8 cells were subcultured for >160 passages over ~830 days. The doubling time of FGBC8 cells was 73.8 h, and the modal diploid chromosome number was 48. FGBC8 cells transfected with green fluorescence protein (GFP)-expression plasmid exhibited a strong signal 48 h after transfection. Consequently, we demonstrated that fish serum is a crucial supplement for the long-term survival and maintenance of comparable morphology in these primary embryonic cells. Our results can be used as a guide for primary embryonic cell cultures for other fish species and may be useful for cell biotechnological applications.

Olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) is a commercially important fish species in Japan, China, and the Republic of Korea. Despite numerous attempts to improve productivity, there have been no studies of in vitro germline stem cell (GSC) culture in this species. Here, olive flounder testicular and ovarian cell lines (OFT and OFO, respectively) were established and characterized. RT-PCR demonstrated that OFT and OFO expressed several gonadal somatic cell markers, including wt1 and fgf2, but lacked expression of germ cell markers, such as vasa, nanos2, and scp3. In addition, SNP analysis revealed that OFT originated from XY male P. olivaceus and OFO originated from XX female P. olivaceus. These results suggest that OFT was composed of Sertoli cells and OFO was composed of granulosa cells and theca cells. Finally, coculture of OFT or OFO with enriched male P. olivaceus GSCs isolated from the top 20% and 20–30% Percoll density gradient layers showed that GSCs were attached on both cell lines. In conclusion, we established P. olivaceus testicular and ovarian cell lines, which were expected to use for development of an in vitro GSC culture system.

Krüppel-like factor 10 (KLF10) regulates various cellular functions, such as proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis, as well as the homeostasis of several types of tissue. In the present study, we attempted a loss-of-function analysis of zebrafish Klf11a and Klf11b, which constitute human KLF10 homologs. Embryos injected with klf11b-morpholino (MO) showed developmental retardation and cell death, whereas klf11a-MO-injected embryos showed normal development. In klf11b-MO-injected embryos, a dramatic increase in the amount of zebrafish p53 mRNA might be the cause of the increase in that of bax. The degree of apoptosis decreased in the klf11b-MO and p53-MO co-injected embryos. These findings imply that KLF10 is a negative regulator of p53-dependent transcription, suggesting that the KLF10/p53 complex may play an important role in apoptosis for maintenance of tissue homeostasis during embryonic development.