Zebra finch transgenesis

Ivana Gessara, Falk Dittrich, Moritz Hertel, Christina Reusch, Anja Lohrentz

To understand the role of sex hormone receptor signaling for the development of song control nuclei, the availability of transgenic songbird models would represent a significant step forward. The current procedure to generate transgenic songbirds by injecting lentiviral vectors directly into the blastoderm requires many embryos to be transduced. For a more efficient way of zebra finch transgenesis, we established the use of primordial germ cells that can be genetically modified in vitro. To what extent the androgen receptor contributes to the development of song control nuclei shall be studied in knock down and knock out birds.