-
The Journal of Biological Chemistry Jun 2017Juvenile hormone (JH) controls many biological activities in insects, including development, metamorphosis, and reproduction. In the mosquito, a vector of dengue,...
Juvenile hormone (JH) controls many biological activities in insects, including development, metamorphosis, and reproduction. In the mosquito, a vector of dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, and zika viruses, the metabolic tissue (the fat body, which is an analogue of the vertebrate liver) produces yolk proteins for developing oocytes. JH is important for the fat body to acquire competence for yolk protein production. However, the molecular mechanisms of how JH promotes mosquito reproduction are not completely understood. In this study we show that stimulation of the JH receptor methoprene-tolerant (Met) activates expression of genes encoding the regulator of ribosome synthesis 1 (RRS1) and six ribosomal proteins (two ribosomal large subunit proteins, two ribosomal small subunit proteins, and two mitochondrial ribosomal proteins). Moreover, RNAi-mediated depletion of decreased biosynthesis of the ribosomal protein L32 (RpL32). Depletion of , , or led to retardation of ovarian growth and reduced mosquito fecundity, which may at least in part have resulted from decreased vitellogenin protein production in the fat body. In summary, our results indicate that JH is critical for inducing the expression of ribosomal protein genes and demonstrate that RRS1 mediates the JH signal to enhance both ribosomal biogenesis and vitellogenesis.
Topics: Aedes; Animals; Fat Body; Female; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Insect Proteins; Insecticide Resistance; Juvenile Hormones; Mitochondrial Proteins; Organ Culture Techniques; Organelle Biogenesis; Ovary; Polyribosomes; RNA Interference; Ribosomal Proteins; Ribosomes; Signal Transduction; Vitellogenesis; Vitellogenins
PubMed: 28446607
DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M116.761387 -
PloS One 2020The life cycle of European eel (Anguilla anguilla), a catadromous species, is complex and enigmatic. In nature, during the silvering process prior to their long spawning...
The life cycle of European eel (Anguilla anguilla), a catadromous species, is complex and enigmatic. In nature, during the silvering process prior to their long spawning migration, reproductive development is arrested, and they cease feeding. In studies of reproduction using hormonal induction, eels are equivalently not feed. Therefore, in female eels that undergo vitellogenesis, the liver plays different, essential roles being involved both in vitellogenins synthesis and in reallocating resources for the maintenance of vital functions, performing the transoceanic reproductive migration and completing reproductive development. The present work aimed at unravelling the major transcriptomic changes that occur in the liver during induced vitellogenesis in female eels. mRNA-Seq data from 16 animals (eight before induced vitellogenesis and eight after nine weeks of hormonal treatment) were generated and differential expression analysis was performed comparing the two groups. This analysis detected 1,328 upregulated and 1,490 downregulated transcripts. Overrepresentation analysis of the upregulated genes included biological processes related to biosynthesis, response to estrogens, mitochondrial activity and localization, while downregulated genes were enriched in processes related to morphogenesis and development of several organs and tissues, including liver and immune system. Among key genes, the upregulated ones included vitellogenin genes (VTG1 and VTG2) that are central in vitellogenesis, together with ESR1 and two novel genes not previously investigated in European eel (LMAN1 and NUPR1), which have been linked with reproduction in other species. Moreover, several upregulated genes, such as CYC1, ELOVL5, KARS and ACSS1, are involved in the management of the effect of fasting and NOTCH, VEGFA and NCOR are linked with development, autophagy and liver maintenance in other species. These results increase the understanding of the molecular changes that occur in the liver during vitellogenesis in this complex and distinctive fish species, bringing new insights on European eel reproduction and broodstock management.
Topics: Anguilla; Animals; Female; Liver; RNA-Seq; Reproduction; Transcriptome; Vitellogenesis
PubMed: 32790680
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0236438 -
PLoS Genetics Oct 2014Juvenile hormone (JH), a sesquiterpenoid produced by the corpora allata, coordinates insect growth, metamorphosis, and reproduction. While JH action for the repression...
Juvenile hormone (JH), a sesquiterpenoid produced by the corpora allata, coordinates insect growth, metamorphosis, and reproduction. While JH action for the repression of larval metamorphosis has been well studied, the molecular basis of JH in promoting adult reproduction has not been fully elucidated. Methoprene-tolerant (Met), the JH receptor, has been recently shown to mediate JH action during metamorphosis as well as in vitellogenesis, but again, the precise mechanism underlying the latter has been lacking. We have now demonstrated using Met RNAi to phenocopy a JH-deprived condition in migratory locusts, that JH stimulates DNA replication and increases ploidy in preparation for vitellogenesis. Mcm4 and Mcm7, two genes in the DNA replication pathway were expressed in the presence of JH and Met. Depletion of Mcm4 or Mcm7 inhibited de novo DNA synthesis and polyploidization, and resulted in the substantial reduction of vitellogenin mRNA levels as well as severely impaired oocyte maturation and ovarian growth. By using luciferase reporter and electrophoretic mobility shift assays, we have shown that Met directly regulates the transcription of Mcm4 and Mcm7 by binding to upstream consensus sequences with E-box or E-box-like motifs. Our work suggests that the JH-receptor complex acts on Mcm4 and Mcm7 to regulate DNA replication and polyploidy for vitellogenesis and oocyte maturation.
Topics: Animals; Grasshoppers; Humans; Juvenile Hormones; Larva; Methoprene; Minichromosome Maintenance Complex Component 4; Minichromosome Maintenance Complex Component 7; Nuclear Proteins; Oocytes; Oogenesis; Polyploidy; RNA Interference; RNA, Messenger; Signal Transduction; Vitellogenesis
PubMed: 25340846
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1004702 -
Arthropod Structure & Development Jul 2014Astigmatans are a large group of mites living in nearly every environment and exhibiting very diverse reproductive strategies. In spite of an uniform anatomical... (Review)
Review
Astigmatans are a large group of mites living in nearly every environment and exhibiting very diverse reproductive strategies. In spite of an uniform anatomical organization of their reproductive systems, gametogenesis in each sex is highly variable, leading to gamete formation showing many peculiar features and emphasizing the distinct position of Astigmata. This review summarizes the contemporary knowledge on the structure of ovaries and testes in astigmatic mites, the peculiarities of oogenesis and spermatogenesis, as well as provides new data on several species not studied previously. New questions are discussed and approaches for future studies are proposed.
Topics: Acari; Animals; Female; Male; Oogenesis; Ovary; Spermatogenesis; Testis
PubMed: 24791694
DOI: 10.1016/j.asd.2014.04.003 -
Frontiers in Bioscience (Landmark... Jan 2011Meiotic maturation is a complex process that involves resumption of meiosis in response to preovulatory luteinizing hormone (LH) surge just before ovulation. High levels... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study Review
Meiotic maturation is a complex process that involves resumption of meiosis in response to preovulatory luteinizing hormone (LH) surge just before ovulation. High levels of cAMP in oocytes maintain meiotic arrest at diplotene of prophase I in mammals and pisces. In mammals, the process by which LH induces recommencement of meiosis involves breakdown of oocyte-somatic cells communication, which is followed by a drop in intracellular cAMP levels that in turn causes exit from meiotic arrest. Maturation promoting factor (MPF) then accomplishes progression of oocytes to reach first metaphase followed by second metaphase after reinitiating meiosis. Pisces require precise completion of oocyte growth involving vitellogenesis before the entry of meiotic maturation. Then, both mammalian and fish oocytes enters resumption of meiosis involving germinal vesicle breakdown, chromosome condensation, assembly of meiotic spindle, and formation of first polar body. However, this process in pisces is regulated by three major mediators, LH, 17alpha,20beta-dihydroxy progesterone and MPF which are unique. The molecular mechanisms of meiotic maturation and ovulation by comparing mammalian and piscine research have been dealt in this review.
Topics: 3-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases; A Kinase Anchor Proteins; Animals; Cortisone Reductase; Cyclic AMP; Female; Fishes; Humans; Mammals; Maturation-Promoting Factor; Meiosis; Oocytes; Ovarian Follicle; Ovulation; Phosphoproteins; Steroid 17-alpha-Hydroxylase; Steroids; Transcription Factors
PubMed: 21196272
DOI: 10.2741/3829 -
Scientific Reports Apr 2022With the expansion and diversification of global aquaculture, efforts continue to develop new bio-technologies for assisted reproduction in species that present...
With the expansion and diversification of global aquaculture, efforts continue to develop new bio-technologies for assisted reproduction in species that present reproductive dysfunctions. Flathead grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) males held in intensive conditions in the Mediterranean region do not produce fluent milt and most females are arrested at previtellogenesis. The weekly injections of recombinant follicle stimulating hormone (rFsh) and luteinizing hormone (rLh) induced and completed vitellogenesis in treated females (n = 21), and treated males produced fluent sperm (n = 9). The application of a priming dose of 30 µg kg rLh and resolving dose of 40 mg kg Progesterone, or priming and resolving doses of 30 µg kg rLh, resulted in the induction of maturation, ovulation, and spontaneous spawns with a spawning success of the 85% (8 of 9 females) and 100% (n = 6), respectively. The eggs collected had 63 ± 21% fertilization with embryo development and 58 ± 23% hatching. In comparison, control individuals did not show advances in gonadal development and did not produce fluent sperm. The present results confirm the possibility of controlling oogenesis from previtellogenesis to the completion of maturation and fertilised tank spawning using exclusively rFsh and rLh in a teleost species.
Topics: Animals; Female; Follicle Stimulating Hormone; Humans; Luteinizing Hormone; Male; Progesterone; Recombinant Proteins; Reproduction; Smegmamorpha
PubMed: 35449146
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-10371-0 -
Aquatic Toxicology (Amsterdam,... Jan 2021Exposure to certain anthropogenic chemicals can inhibit the activity to cytochrome P450 aromatase (CYP19) in fishes leading to decreased plasma 17β-estradiol (E2),...
Exposure to certain anthropogenic chemicals can inhibit the activity to cytochrome P450 aromatase (CYP19) in fishes leading to decreased plasma 17β-estradiol (E2), plasma vitellogenin (VTG), and egg production. Reproductive dysfunction resulting from exposure to aromatase inhibitors has been extensively investigated in several laboratory model species of fish. These model species have ovaries that undergo asynchronous oocyte development, but many fishes have ovaries with group-synchronous oocyte development. Fishes with group-synchronous oocyte development have dynamic reproductive cycles which typically occur annually and are often triggered by complex environmental cues. This has resulted in a lack of test data and uncertainty regarding sensitivities to and adverse effects of aromatase inhibition. The present study used the western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) as a laboratory model to investigate adverse effects of chemical aromatase inhibition on group-synchronous oocyte development. Adult female western mosquitofish were exposed to either 0, 2, or 30 μg/L of the model nonsteroidal aromatase inhibiting chemical, fadrozole, for a complete reproductive cycle. Fish were sampled at four time-points representing pre-vitellogenic resting, early vitellogenesis, late vitellogenesis/early ovarian recrudescence, and late ovarian recrudescence. Temporal changes in numerous reproductive parameters were measured, including gonadosomatic index (GSI), plasma sex steroids, and expression of selected genes in the brain, liver, and gonad that are important for reproduction. In contrast to fish from the control treatment, fish exposed to 2 and 30 μg/L of fadrozole had persistent elevated expression of cyp19 in the ovary, depressed expression of vtg in the liver, and a low GSI. These responses suggest that completion of a group-synchronous reproductive cycle was unsuccessful during the assay in fish from either fadrozole treatment. These adverse effects data show that exposure to aromatase inhibitors has the potential to cause reproductive dysfunction in a wide range of fishes with both asynchronous and group-synchronous reproductive strategies.
PubMed: 33450672
DOI: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2020.105741 -
Saline Systems Jul 2009To understand the hormonal coordination of the antagonism between molting and reproduction in crustaceans, the terminally anecdysial mature female Callinectes sapidus...
Molt-inhibiting hormone stimulates vitellogenesis at advanced ovarian developmental stages in the female blue crab, Callinectes sapidus 1: an ovarian stage dependent involvement.
To understand the hormonal coordination of the antagonism between molting and reproduction in crustaceans, the terminally anecdysial mature female Callinectes sapidus was used as a model. The regulatory roles of crustacean hyperglycemic hormone (CHH) and molt-inhibiting hormone (MIH) in vitellogenesis were examined. A competitive specific RIA was used to measure the levels of MIH and CHH in the hemolymphs of mature females at pre- and mid- vitellogenic stages, and their effects on vitellogenesis at early (early 2, E2) and mid vitellogenesis (3) stages were determined in vitro. A hepatopancreas fragments incubation system was developed and the levels of vitellogenin (VtG), as well as VtG mRNA and heterogeneous nuclear (hn)VtG RNA were determined using RIA or QPCR, respectively. MIH titers were four times higher at mid-vitellogenesis than at pre-vitellogenesis, while CHH levels in the hemolymph were constant. In the in vitro incubation experiments, MIH increased both VtG mRNA levels and secretion at ovarian stage 3. At stage E2, however, MIH resulted in a mixed response: downregulation of VtG mRNA and upregulation of hnVtG RNA. CHH had no effect on any of the parameters. Actinomycin D blocked the stimulatory effects of MIH in stage 3 animals on VtG mRNA and VtG, while cycloheximide attenuated only VtG levels, confirming the MIH stimulatory effect at this stage. MIH is a key endocrine regulator in the coordination of molting and reproduction in the mature female C. sapidus, which simultaneously inhibits molt and stimulates vitellogenesis.
PubMed: 19583852
DOI: 10.1186/1746-1448-5-7 -
Frontiers in Genetics 2022Assisted propagation of the European eel will lead to a closed production cycle supplying the aquaculture industry with juvenile glass eels. Females require long-term...
Assisted propagation of the European eel will lead to a closed production cycle supplying the aquaculture industry with juvenile glass eels. Females require long-term weekly treatment with pituitary extract (PE), which is stressful and causes abnormalities in oogenesis. We tested the effects of 17α-methyltestosterone (17 MT), as potent androgen activating the androgen receptor, and 17β-estradiol (E2), as an inducer of vitellogenesis, to shorten the duration of PE treatment.Four groups of feminized eels were subjected to a simulated migration and subsequent injection with implants containing 17 MT (17 MT-group), E2 (E2-group) or 17 MT plus E2 (17 MT + E2-group) to test for synergistic effects, or without any steroids as controls (C-group). The effects of a 2-months treatment were investigated by determining the eye index (EI), hepatosomatic and gonadosomatic index (HSI and GSI, respectively), plasma steroid concentrations by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS), gonadal histology, expression of androgen receptors a and b (, ); estrogen receptor 1 (); FSH receptor (); vitellogenin receptor () and aromatase (), and the required number of weekly PE injections to fully mature. For many parameters, both the 17 MT and E2 groups showed an increase vs. controls, with the 17 MT + E2 group showing a synergistic effect, as seen for EI, GSI (3.4 for 17 MT and for E2, 6.6 for 17 MT + E2), oocyte diameter and , and expression. Concentrations of almost all focal steroids decreased with simulated migration and steroid treatment. Only eels of the 17 MT-group showed increased expression of and of , while expression increased 44-fold in the 17 MT + E2 group, highlighting that co-implantation is most effective in raising mRNA levels. Specific for eels of the E2 groups were vitellogenesis-associated changes such as an increase of HSI, plasma E2, and presence of yolk in the oocytes. Steroid treatments reduced the duration of PE treatment, again synergistically for co-implantation. In conclusion, E2 is necessary to start vitellogenesis, but 17 MT has specific effects on and expression. The combination is necessary for synergistic effects and as such, steroid implants could be applied in assisted reproduction protocols for European eel to improve oocyte quality leading to the production of more vital larvae.
PubMed: 36061169
DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.969202 -
International Journal of Molecular... Oct 2022The fall armyworm is a highly polyphagous invasive pest. The strong reproductive capacity is an important factor in the rapid colonization and expansion of...
The fall armyworm is a highly polyphagous invasive pest. The strong reproductive capacity is an important factor in the rapid colonization and expansion of Vitellogenin (Vg) and vitellogenin receptor (VgR) play important roles in insect reproduction. As the precursor of vitellin (Vn), Vg provides essential nutrition for embryonic development, and VgR mediates the uptake of Vg by oocytes. In this context, we cloned and characterized these two genes of ( and ) and evaluated their expression profiles in different developmental stages and tissues. The RNA interference experiment was used to investigate their function in vitellogenesis. The ORF values of and were 5250 and 5445 bp, encoding 1749 and 1815 amino acid residues, respectively. The qRT-PCR results revealed that both and were highly expressed in female adults; was specifically expressed in the fat body, whereas was highly expressed in the ovary. In addition, the depletion of either or hindered oocyte maturation and ovarian development, leading to a significant decrease in fecundity. The present study reveals the importance of and in the vitellogenesis of , laying a theoretical foundation for the development of pollution-free pest control strategies with and as new targets.
Topics: Amino Acids; Animals; Female; Spodoptera; Vitellins; Vitellogenesis; Vitellogenins
PubMed: 36233286
DOI: 10.3390/ijms231911972