Sexual Development of the Hermaphroditic Scallop Argopecten irradians Revealed by Morphological, Endocrine and Molecular Analysis.

ABSTRACT: Simultaneous or functional hermaphrodites possessing both ovary and testis at the same time are good materials for studying sexual development. However, previous research on sex determination and differentiation was mainly conducted in gonochoristic species and studies on simultaneous hermaphrodites are still limited. In this study, we conducted a combined morphological, endocrine and molecular study on the gonadal development of a hermaphroditic scallop Argopecten irradians aged 2-10 month old. Morphological analysis showed that sex differentiation occurred at 6 months of age. By examining the dynamic changes of progesterone, testosterone and estradiol, we found testosterone and estradiol were significantly different between the ovaries and testes almost throughout the whole proces

SUBMITTER: Wei H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8007870 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature