Characteristics of ChgH-GFP transgenic medaka lines, an in vivo estrogenic compound detection system.

We previously reported the characteristics of a ChgH-GFP transgenic medaka line that indicates estrogenic compound pollution in environmental water by the green fluorescence of their liver. Recently, we established four more lines. In this study, the characteristics of the five transgenic medaka lines were investigated. The intensity of reporter gene expression varied among transgenic lines and generally correlated well with the amount of integrated transgene in each line. Line-specific ectopic expression was also observed. However, the sensitivity to 17-beta estradiol did not differ among transgenic lines. Three transgenic lines are considered to be suitable as bio-indicators of estrogenic activity, due to the ease of observing green fluorescence in their livers. The transgenic lines can also detect the estrogenic activity of testosterone and 17-beta trenbolone at the nominal concentration of 30 and 100 microg/l, respectively.