Targeted gene knockout in chickens mediated by TALENs.

Genetically modified animals are used for industrial applications as well as scientific research, and studies on these animals contribute to a better understanding of biological mechanisms. Gene targeting techniques have been developed to edit specific gene loci in the genome, but the conventional strategy of homologous recombination with a gene-targeted vector has low efficiency and many technical complications. Here, we generated specific gene knockout chickens through the use of transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN)-mediated gene targeting. In this study, we accomplished targeted knockout of the ovalbumin (OV) gene in the chicken primordial germ cells, and OV gene mutant offspring were generated through test-cross analysis. TALENs successfully induced nucleotide deletion mutations of ORF shifts, resulting in loss of chicken OV gene function. Our results demonstrate that the TALEN technique used in the chicken primordial germ cell line is a powerful strategy to create specific genome-edited chickens safely for practical applications.