Biochemical changes during vitellogenesis in the red claw crayfish,Cherax quadricarinatus (von Martens)

Redclaw crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus) females at different stages of vitellogenesis were sampled to investigate variations in soluble protein, lipid and water content and in the amino acid and fatty acid composition of the hepatopancreas and ovaries. During vitellogenesis, the changes in the content of soluble proteins and lipids in the hepatopancreas and ovaries were dependent on both diet and the reserves from the hepatopancreas. However, in comparison to the ovary, the fluctuation of the amino acid composition in the hepatopancreas suggested that the protein resources mobilized from this organ was compensating for those gained from feeding. Changes in the fatty acid composition of the hepatopancreas showed limited compensatory function as for the quick accumulation of lipids in the ovaries. The proportional amounts of saturated fatty acids/mono‐unsaturated fatty acids/poly‐unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and the predominant fatty acids in both tissues indicated that the mobilization and utilization of fatty acids in freshwater species are different from that in marine species. Based on the redclaw's feeding habits, the commercial pellets used in this study may not be optimal, and a diet with less PUFA may suffice for its vitellogenesis and reduce the feeding costs.     

中华绒螯蟹卵黄发生的超微结构研究

对中华绒螯蟹卵母细胞卵黄发生全过程进行了电镜观察，结果表明：卵黄发生前期的卵母细胞为小生长期初级卵母细胞，细胞质嗜碱性、无卵黄颗粒，与卵原细胞相比，内质网等细胞组分数量明显增多；卵黄发生期的卵母细胞为大生长期初级卵母细胞，细胞质中出现指滴和大量卵黄颗粒，高尔基复合体、内质网、核糖体和溶酶体等细胞器均参与卵黄合成，细胞核呈生发泡状，细胞表面形成微绒毛，卵周隙中出现致密颗粒物质，但未被卵母细胞吸收；卵     

Hormonal changes during meiotic maturation and ovulation in the brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)

The plasma levels of estradiol-17 (E2), 17, 20-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (17,20-P) and gonadotropin (GTH) were measured in brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) during the period from the end of vitellogenesis to postovulation. Blood samples were taken according to specific stages of maturation, including germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) and ovulation. E2 levels were quite high (45 ng/ml) at the end of vitellogenesis (and prior to GVBD) and dropped precipitously by GVBD (2 ng/ml). They remained low through ovulation and postovulation. 17,20-P levels were low prior to GVBD (0.7 ng/ml) and increased dramatically at GVBD (148 ng/ml). The levels of 17,20-P remained high at ovulation (142 ng/ml) and then dropped significantly within 24 h to approximately half of the ovulatory values. They decreased even further by 7 days postovulation. GTH levels rose gradually through GVBD and ovulation from a postvitellogenic level of approximately 3 ng/ml to a 7 day postovulatory value of approximately 10 ng/ml. The overall results; 1) decrease in estradiol prior to GVBD, 2) increase in 17,20-P at GVBD and 3) gradual GTH rise through GVBD and ovulation, are similar to those reported for other salmonids.     

文蛤卵母细胞卵黄发生的超微结构

取不同发育阶段文蛤 (MeretrixmeretrixLinnaeus)活体解剖取出生殖腺 ,常规方法制成切片 ,以透射电镜(TEM )观察其卵母细胞的卵黄发生过程。结果表明 ,文蛤的卵母细胞卵黄发生期间 ,线粒体、内质网、高尔基复合体、溶酶体、微吞饮泡等细胞器均参与了卵黄粒的形成。卵黄合成早期的卵母细胞质膜伸出大量的微绒毛 ,并出现卵黄膜 ,胞质中有大量膜性小泡 ,溶酶体、线粒体、高尔基复合体和粗面内质网发达 ,卵黄前体物质逐渐增多。在卵黄合成中期 ,胞质内线粒体和内质网活动活跃 ,卵母细胞大量合成和积累卵黄物质 ,细胞质膜外凸 ,与外界进行物质交换。卵黄合成后期 ,卵质内贮存了大量的卵黄粒 ,细胞器不发达。此外 ,还对卵母细胞发育过程卵黄颗粒的细胞内、外原料来源进行了讨论     

短时高温处理对意大利蝗卵子发生期HSP70蛋白表达的影响

本研究采用免疫组织化学分析方法,测定了HSP70蛋白在意大利蝗卵子发生期的表达定位及33~42℃高温处理对其相对表达量的影响。结果表明,1)在卵黄发生前期,卵母细胞和滤泡细胞均表达HSP70蛋白,而在卵黄发生期和卵黄发生后期,HSP70蛋白阳性表达位于滤泡细胞;2)在33~42℃温度范围内,随着温度升高,意大利蝗卵子发生期HSP70蛋白相对表达量呈现先上升后下降的变化趋势;其中36℃处理组HSP70蛋白相对表达量最高,显著高于27℃对照组(P0.05);42℃处理组HSP70蛋白相对表达量最低,但与27℃对照组差异不显著(P0.05)。短时高温处理对意大利蝗卵子发生期HSP70蛋白相对表达量有显著影响,推测HSP70蛋白的表达在意大利蝗抵抗短时高温胁迫过程中具有重要作用。     

银鲳卵黄发生期间组织中抗氧化水平的变化及饲料n-3 LC-PUFA对其的影响

研究了银鲳(Papus argenteus)肝及卵巢组织中超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、过氧化氢酶(CAT)活性、总抗氧化能力(T-AOC)及丙二醛(MDA)含量在整个卵黄发生过程中的变化情况,并分析了饲料n-3 LC-PUFA对卵黄发生期间组织中抗氧化水平的影响。分别以100%鱼油(FO组)、70%鱼油和30%大豆油(FSO组)、30%鱼油和70%大豆油(SFO组)、100%大豆油(SO组)为脂肪源,配制了4组等氮、等能及等脂的试验饲料。以1年龄雌性银鲳为试验对象,每组饲料设3重复,试验周期185 d。研究结果表明,肝与卵巢组织SOD、CAT活性、T-AOC水平及MDA含量在卵黄发生过程中均呈现逐渐升高的趋势,且卵黄发生后期各指标水平均显著高于卵黄发生前期(P0.05)。肝SOD(除SO饲料组外)、CAT活性、T-AOC水平及MDA含量在卵黄发生中期与前期之间未表现出显著性差异(P0.05),而卵黄发生中期FO与FSO饲料组卵巢SOD、CAT活性及T-AOC水平则均显著高于卵黄发生前期(P0.05)。FSO饲料组肝与卵巢SOD、CAT活性在卵黄发生过程中均为最高值,且在卵黄发生中、后期均显著高于SO饲料组(P0.05),但与FO饲料组无显著性差异(P0.05)。各饲料组间肝与卵巢T-AOC水平在卵黄发生前期均未表现出显著性差异(P0.05),而在卵黄发生后期,FO与FSO饲料组肝与卵巢T-AOC水平均显著高于SO饲料组(P0.05),但FO与FSO饲料组间无显著性差异(P0.05)。肝与卵巢中MDA含量随着饲料n-3 LC-PUFA含量的升高而呈现出升高趋势,且这种升高趋势在肝组织中表现更为明显,卵巢组织MDA含量在卵黄发生中、后期仅FO饲料组表现出显著性升高趋势(P0.05),其他各饲料组在卵黄发生各期均未表现出显著性差异(P0.05)。统计分析表明,银鲳卵黄发生过程中组织中抗氧化水平逐渐升高,适宜的饲料n-3 LC-PUFA含量(4.01%,FSO饲料组)可明显改善银鲳卵黄发生中期与后期组织中的抗氧化水平。双因素方差分析结果表明,试验饲料与卵黄发生时期对银鲳组织抗氧化水平均具有极显著性影响(P0.01),且两者对肝T-AOC水平与MDA含量存在显著性的交互作用(P0.05)。     

Gag (Mycteroperca microlepis) vitellogenin: purification,characterization and use for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of female maturity in three species of grouper

Circulating levels of the egg yolk precursor protein, vitellogenin (VTG), can be used as a biochemical indicator of maturation in female fish. Here we report on purification and partial characterization of VTG from a temperate marine serranid, the gag(Mycteroperca microlepis). Development of a competitive, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for gag VTG (gVTG) is also described. The gVTG was purified by DEAE-agarose anion exchange chromatography from a pooled plasma sample collected from several juvenile gag after they were injected with 17estradiol. The protein appeared as a major band of M_r183000 after SDS-PAGE ± Western blotting using either a specific rabbit antiserum to gVTG or a universal monoclonal antibody for vertebrate VTGs. Amino acid composition analysis and N-terminal peptide sequencing verified that gVTG is similar in primary structure to VTG from several other teleost species. The purified gVTG and its specific antiserum were used to develop a sensitive, competitive, antibody-capture ELISA for quantifying the protein in blood plasma from maturing females. VTG levels in maturing female gag were highly correlated with oocyte growth and circulating testosterone and 17-estradiol levels, whereas VTG was non-detectable in juveniles, immature females or males. Two size-based maturity schedules for female gag were constructed, one utilizing detection of VTG in their circulation as a marker of maturity and the other relying on histological evidence that their ovaries were in vitellogenic or later stages of maturation. The two schedules were virtually identical. The gVTG ELISA was also used to detect VTG in blood plasma from mature Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus) and red hind (E. guttatus). As with gag, the assay was completely reliable for discriminating between reproductively mature females versus males from these two grouper species.     

Diurnal rhythm of serum steroid hormone levels in the Japanese whiting,Sillago japonica,a daily-spawning teleost

Ovarian developmental stages and serum steroid hormone levels were examined at six different times of day (0100, 0600, 1000, 1300, 1600, 2000 h) in a marine teleost, the Japanese whiting Sillago japonica, which has an asynchronous-type ovary containing oocytes at various stages of development and spawns every day during a period ranging up to three months. The largest oocytes in the ovaries at the active vitellogenic or post-vitellogenic stages were found between 0100 and 1300 h. Oocyte maturation indicated by germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) occurred at 1600 h, and ovulated oocytes were observed in the ovaries collected at 2000 h. These processes were accompanied by a significant daily change in serum steroid hormone levels. The serum level of estradiol-17β showed a peak in fish with mature oocytes sampled at 1600 h. In these fish, the second-largest oocytes in the ovaries were at the initial stage of vigorous vitellogenesis, the secondary yolk stage. Therefore the highest level of serum estradiol-17β was considered to be due to the second-largest oocytes. Testosterone levels remained low and constant throughout the experimental period. The serum levels of 17α,20β-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (17α,20β-diOHprog) peaked at 1600 h at which time all fish had mature oocytes. These results indicate that the Japanese whiting possesses a diurnal rhythm of oocyte development including vitellogenesis, oocyte maturation and ovulation, and further suggest that daily cycles in oocyte growth and maturation which simultaneously take place in an ovary are regulated by diurnal secretions of estradiol-17β and the maturation-inducing steroid, 17α,20β-diOHprog.     

Purification,characterization and immunoassay of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) vitellogenin

The egg yolk precursor, vitellogenin (VTG), was purified from blood plasma of striped bass by chromatography on hydroxylapatite or DEAE-agarose. The fish were first implanted with estradiol-17β (E₂), which induced vitellogenesis. A rabbit antiserum (a-FSPP) raised against plasma from mature female striped bass, and then adsorbed with mature male plasma, was used to detect female-specific plasma protein (FSPP) in the chromatography fractions. Striped bass VTG (s-VTG) was collected from the peak fraction that was induced by E₂, reacted with a-FSPP, and contained all detectable phosphoprotein. It appeared as a single band (M_r ≂ 170,000) in SDS-PAGE or Western blots using a-FSPP, and as a pair of closely-spaced phospholipoprotein bands in native gradient-PAGE, suggesting that there is more than one circulating form of s-VTG. The relationship of s-VTG to the yolk proteins was verified using a-FSPP. The antiserum reacted with the main peak from gel filtration of saline ovary extracts, and it specifically immunostained the two main bands in Western blots of the extracts and the yolk granules of mature oocytes. The amino acid composition of s-VTG was similar to that of VTG from other fish and Xenopus. A radial immunodiffusion assay for s-VTG was developed using a-FSPP and purified s-VTG as standard. The s-VTG was not detected in blood plasma of males, immature females, or regressed adult females, but plasma s-VTG levels were highly correlated with plasma E₂ and testosterone levels, and oocyte growth, in maturing females. The results indicate that the maturational status of female striped bass can be identified by s-VTG immunoassay.