Male germ cell proliferation and apoptosis in sexually immature meagre Argyrosomus regius (Asso, 1801) treated with recombinant follicle stimulating hormone
Project description:The meagre Argyrosomus regius (Asso, 1801) is a marine fish species that has an increasing aquaculture production in Europe. Lowering the age at maturity of hatchery-produced juveniles would support meagre aquaculture by reducing time between generations in selective breeding programs and reducing industrial costs for broodstock maintenance. The aim of this work was to assess the effects of a treatment with recombinant follicle stimulating hormone (rFsh), produced in ovarian cells of Chinese hamsters, on male germ cell proliferation and apoptosis in sexually immature meagre. The rFsh-treated fish had higher gonadosomatic index, larger seminiferous tubules, more abundant luminal spermatozoa, a lower density of anti-PCNA positive single A spermatogonia, a higher density of anti-PCNA positive spermatocysts and a lower incidence of germ cell apoptosis than control groups. The present study demonstrated the effectiveness of the produced rFsh in stimulating testis development and spermatogenesis in pre-pubertal meagre. Moreover, the rFsh treatment proved to be highly efficient in removing the apoptotic block of spermatogenesis observed in juvenile meagre, allowing spermatogonial survival and progress towards meiosis. The administration of rFsh did not stimulate spermatogonial self-renewal, a process whose control still needs to be elucidated.
Project description:Meagre (Argyrosomus regius) belongs to the family Sciaenidae and is a promising candidate for Mediterranean aquaculture diversifcation. As a relatively recent species in aquaculture, the physiological consequences of the immune system activation in meagre are understudied. Spleen, as a primary lymphoid organ has an essential role in meagre immune and inflammatory responses. In this study, we have evaluated the in vivo effects of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on the spleen transcriptome of meagre by RNA-seq analysis at 4 and 24 h after injection. The assembled transcripts were assigned to immunological processes. At 24 h, the number and type of differential immune-related genes regulated by LPS was higher than at 4 h. However, at 4 h the upregulation of immune-related genes was greater. Several genes related to the innate immune response were upregulated including tolllike receptor 5, and multiple interferons and interferon-related proteins. In the present work, it was shown that several chemokines and chemokine ligands (e.g. cxcl10, ccl21) as well as cytokines (e.g. il1b, il12, il27) were overexpressed as a result of LPS injection, supporting their role as mediators of the innate and adaptive immune response. KEGG analysis found that LPS-stimulated immune responses mainly involve cytokine and protein-protein interactions involved in pathogen response. Specifcally, genes involved in the MHCI and MHCII pathways were induced as early as 4 h post LPS injection. These results will help to understand the pathogenesis and host defense system in meagre.
Project description:BackgroundMany fish taxa produce sound in voluntary and in disturbance contexts but information on the full acoustic repertoire is lacking for most species. Yet, this knowledge is critical to enable monitoring fish populations in nature through acoustic monitoring.MethodsIn this study we characterized the sounds emitted during disturbance and voluntary contexts by juvenile and adult meagre, Argyrosomus regius, in laboratory conditions. Breeding sounds produced by captive adults were also compared with meagre sounds registered in the Tagus estuary (Lisbon, Portugal) from unseen fish during the breeding season.ResultsThe present dataset demonstrates for the first time that in this species dominant frequency is inversely related to fish size, and that sounds vary according to sex, context and age. Sounds from captive breeding adults were similar to sounds recorded in the field.DiscussionOur findings indicate that A. regius sound features carry information about size, sex, age and motivation. This variability could potentially be used to identify meagre in the field and to infer about ontogenetic phase (i.e., juveniles vs. adults, and variation with size) and motivation (e.g., spawning). Future studies should confirm sex differences and ascertain the influence of water temperature on acoustic features.