Sex steroids and steroidogenesis-related genes in the sea cucumber, Holothuria scabra and their potential role in gonad maturation.

ABSTRACT: The sea cucumber Holothuria scabra is an economically valuable marine species which is distributed throughout the Asia-Pacific region. With the natural population declining due to over fishing, aquaculture of this species is deemed necessary. Hence, it is essential to understand the mechanisms regulating the reproduction in order to increase their populations. Sex steroids, including estrogens, androgens and progestogens, play an important role in reproduction in most vertebrates and several invertebrates. It has been proposed that sea cucumbers have the same sex steroids as vertebrates but the steroidogenic pathway in the sea cucumbers is still unclear. In this study, we demonstrated by using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) that sex steroids (estradiol, progester

SUBMITTER: Thongbuakaew T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7838161 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature