Variation in gonadotrophin-releasing hormone-1 gene expression in the preoptic area predicts transitions in seasonal reproductive state.

ABSTRACT: In many seasonally reproducing animals, the experience of prolonged exposure to constant photoperiods results in the induction of a state of photorefractoriness, which is defined as a lack of responsiveness to a previously stimulatory photoperiod. The physiological and genetic processes that control photorefractoriness are not well understood; however, the hallmark of photorefractoriness is an endogenous change in the physiological response to a constant photoperiod. It is already known that preoptic area (POA) gnrh1 gene expression declines during the development of refractoriness to long-day stimulation in European starlings. We employed in situ hybridisation histochemistry to characterise changes in POA gnrh1 mRNA expression during the reinstatement of photosensitivity in female starlin

SUBMITTER: Stevenson TJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3260382 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature