Delivery of DNA to early embryos of the Kuruma prawn, Penaeus japonicus

We examined the relative efficiency of microinjection, electroporation and particle bombardment for introducing DNA into the embryos of the Kuruma prawn, Penaeus japonicus. The amount of DNA that could be delivered into one- to four-celled embryos and subsequently recovered was examined using plasmids with selectable antibiotic resistance, Microinjection proved to be the most reliable technique, The mean value for plasmid recovery from injected embryos ranged from 225 to 243 plasmids per embryo. Electroporation was effective in delivering small, but measurable amounts of DNA into embryos with values ranging from 0.5 to 0.9 plasmids per embryo. Bombardment failed to introduce any significant amount of DNA into viable embryos. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.