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Identification and expression of GnRH2 and GnRH3 in the black sea bass (Centropristis striata), a hermaphroditic teleost

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Abstract

We cloned two cDNAs for two gonadotropin-releasing hormones, GnRH2 (chicken GnRH-II) and GnRH3 (salmon GnRH), respectively, from the black sea bass (Centropristis striata). Black sea bass are protogynous hermaphroditic teleosts that change from females to males between 2 and 5 years of age. Similar to other GnRH precursors, the precursors of black sea bass GnRH2 and GnRH23 consisted of a signal peptide, decapeptide, a downstream processing site, and a GnRH-associated peptide. Our analyses failed to identify GnRH1. GnRH3 precursor transcript was more widely distributed in a variety of tissues compared with GnRH2. Further examination of GnRH expression and gonadal histology was done in black sea bass from three different size groups: small (11.4–44.1 g), medium (179.4–352.2 g) and large (393.8–607.3 g). Interestingly, GnRH3 expression occurred only in the pituitaries of males in the small and medium groups compared with expression of GnRH2. Future functional studies of the sea bass GnRHs will be valuable in elucidating the potential underlying neuroendocrine mechanisms of black sea bass reproduction and may ultimately contribute to management advances in this commercially important fish.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the members of the Berlinsky and Sower laboratories especially Heidi Coburn and Ryan Brown for their help in obtaining black sea bass and James Gargan for his assistance with RNA extraction and expression studies. This work was supported by National Science Foundation Grant IOS-0849569 and IOS-1257476 to SAS. Partial funding was provided by the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station and University of New Hampshire Undergraduate Research Award. Partial funding was provided by the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station. This is Scientific Contribution Number 2532.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Molecular and Comparative Endocrinology, University of New Hampshire, 316 Rudman Hall, 46 College Road, Durham, NH, 03824-3544, USA

    Scott J. Morin, Wayne A. Decatur, Timothy S. Breton, Timothy J. Marquis, Mary K. Hayes, David L. Berlinsky & Stacia A. Sower

  2. Department of Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, University of New Hampshire, 316 Rudman Hall, 46 College Road, Durham, NH, 03824-3544, USA

    Wayne A. Decatur & Stacia A. Sower

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA

    Timothy S. Breton & David L. Berlinsky

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  1. Scott J. Morin
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  2. Wayne A. Decatur
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  3. Timothy S. Breton
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  4. Timothy J. Marquis
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  6. David L. Berlinsky
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  7. Stacia A. Sower
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stacia A. Sower.

Additional information

Scott J. Morin and Wayne A. Decatur have contributed equally to the data presented in this paper.

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Morin, S.J., Decatur, W.A., Breton, T.S. et al. Identification and expression of GnRH2 and GnRH3 in the black sea bass (Centropristis striata), a hermaphroditic teleost. Fish Physiol Biochem 41, 383–395 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-014-9990-z

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