Robust gdf9 and bmp15 expression in the oocytes of ovotestes through the Figla-independent pathway in the hermaphroditic black porgy, Acanthopagrus schlegelii.

ABSTRACT: More than 1,500 fish species are hermaphroditic, but no hermaphroditic lineage appears to be evolutionarily ancient in fishes. Thus, whether more than one sex at a time was present during the evolutionary shift from gonochorism to hermaphroditism in fishes is an intriguing question. Ectopic oocytes were created in the ovotestes of protandrous black porgy via the withdrawal of estradiol (E2) administration. These ectopic oocytes reprogrammed the surrounding cells, which changed from Sertoli cells to follicle-like cells. We observed that gdf9 and bmp15 expression was localized in the primary oocytes and gradually decreased after oocytes entered a secondary oocyte stage. Robust expression of gdf9 and bmp15 in ectopic oocytes was associated with the surrounding Sertoli cells. However, blocking

SUBMITTER: Wu GC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5658113 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature