Olfactory imprinting of amino acids in lacustrine sockeye salmon.

ABSTRACT: Juvenile salmon have an olfactory ability to imprint their natal stream odors, but neither the odor properties of natal stream water nor the imprinting timing and duration have been clarified as yet. Here we show, using electrophysiological and behavioral experiments, that one-year-old lacustrine sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) can be imprinted around the stage of parr-smolt transformation (PST) by a single amino acid, 1 microM L-proline (Pro), or L-glutamic acid (Glu). We also show by real-time PCR that changes occur in mRNA levels of the salmon olfactory imprinting-related gene (SOIG) around PST. The electro-olfactogram (EOG) responses of test fish exposed to Pro in March (before PST) and April-June (during PST) for 2 weeks were significantly (1.7-fold) greater than those of non-expo

SUBMITTER: Yamamoto Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2799659 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature