The role of vitellogenin during gestation of Girardinichthys viviparus and Ameca splendens; two goodeid fish with matrotrophic viviparity

Armando Vega-López, Esperanza Ortiz-Ordóñez, Esther Uría-Galicia, E. Laura Mendoza-Santana, Rubí Hernández-Cornejo, Roxana Atondo-Mexia, Alejandra García-Gasca, Ethel García-Latorre, Maria Lilia Domínguez-López

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Goodeid fish have matrotrophic viviparity, and unlike lecitotrophic fish, yolk loss forces the female to provide the nutritional requirements for embryonic development. Vitellogenin (VTG) is the yolk precursor protein synthesized in the maternal liver, but there is only circumstantial evidence regarding VTG supply during the ontogenesis of bony fish with matrotrophic viviparity. Therefore, the goal of the present study was to identify and quantify VTG during gestation of the black fin goodeid Girardinichthys viviparus and the butterfly split-fin goodeid Ameca splendens. Females at different gonadic developmental stages were selected in order to evaluate VTG mRNA expression in the maternal liver using RT-PCR; VTG quantification in maternal muscle and liver, as well as in the embryos, was done using ELISA, and immunohistochemical detection of VTG was done in the black fin goodeid. The results suggest that VTG supplies nutrients during embryonic development of both species, which have different life histories. It is possible that the transition from lecitotrophy to matrotrophic viviparity in bony fish with intraluminal gestation involved adaptive transition strategies that included changes in the relationship between oocytes and follicular cells, as well as a gradual loss of VTG synthesis during embryonic development.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)731-742
Number of pages12
JournalComparative Biochemistry and Physiology -Part A : Molecular and Integrative Physiology
Volume147
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2007

Keywords

  • Ameca splendens
  • Embryonic development
  • Girardinichthys viviparus
  • Goodeid fish
  • Matrotrophic viviparity
  • Vitellogenin

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