Localization and divergent profiles of estrogen receptors and aromatase in the vocal and auditory networks of a fish with alternative mating tactics.

ABSTRACT: Estrogens play a salient role in the development and maintenance of both male and female nervous systems and behaviors. The plainfin midshipman (Porichthys notatus), a teleost fish, has two male reproductive morphs that follow alternative mating tactics and diverge in multiple somatic, hormonal, and neural traits, including the central control of morph-specific vocal behaviors. After we identified duplicate estrogen receptors (ERβ1 and ERβ2) in midshipman, we developed antibodies to localize protein expression in the central vocal-acoustic networks and saccule, the auditory division of the inner ear. As in other teleost species, ERβ1 and ERβ2 were robustly expressed in the telencephalon and hypothalamus in vocal-acoustic and other brain regions shown previously to exhibit strong expression

SUBMITTER: Fergus DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3688646 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature