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Zoological Science
Abstract
Viviparous fish, including white-edged rockfish (Sebastes taczanowskii), accumulate substantial yolk mass in the oocytes; however, the details of the molecular mechanisms underlying yolk formation are not yet fully understood, especially concerning multiplicity in the yolk precursor vitellogenin (Vtg). The present study aimed to reveal the hepatic transcriptional profiles of multiple vtg gene transcripts (vtgAa, vtgAb, vtgC) during the reproductive cycle in captive female white-edged rockfish reared in an aquarium under natural photo-thermal conditions. The serum estradiol-17β concentration and the hepatic transcript levels of all vtg subtypes increased with the progress of vitellogenesis; both levels decreased at the beginning of oocyte maturation and remained low during the gestation period. Considering the similarity in the transcriptional profiles of vtg subtypes between Sebastes and Oncorhynchus, along with the differences between Sebastes and Morone, it is suggested that the transcription patterns of multiple vtg genes relate to neither their reproductive modes (viviparity versus oviparity) nor to teleost phylogeny.
We gratefully acknowledge the help from Shintaro Kanamaru to prepare ef1-α cDNA and Anna Numayama to provide the photographic image of white-edged rockfish used in Supplementary Figure S1. This work was partially supported by research grants from the Hokusui Society Foundation to TT and NH.
The authors have no competing interests to declare.
JN and ON analyzed the data and prepared the original draft. SW performed most of the experiments and MW, YM, YY, SS, and TM assisted with the molecular experiments. TK reared the tested fish. JN, SW, ON, SK MW, TK, TT, AH, and NH collected the samples. All authors reviewed and edited the manuscript. TT and NH acquired the funding. NH is the project administrator.
Supplementary materials for this article are available online. (URL: https://doi.org/10.2108/zs210004)
Supplementary Text S1. Molecular cloning of elongation factor -1α (ef-1α).
Supplementary Figure S1. Photographic image of white-edged rockfish.
Supplementary Figure S2. Geographical locations where the present study (Muroran) and the previous study ( Takemura et al., 1987 , Usuziri) were carried out.
Supplementary Table S1. Biological data sets of experimental fish.
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