Induction of egg spawning in Gibbula umbilicalis (da Costa) by an homogenate of the cerebral ganglia.
A putative egg-spawning neurohormone (ESH) has been demonstrated in extracts of the cerebral ganglia from the prosobranch gastropod, Gibbula umbilicalis, using an in vivo bioassay. The active principle is not sex-specific, although spawning in males cannot be induced with injections of ganglion extracts. A partial characterization of the ESH indicates that it is a stable peptide. ESH activity could be detected in the bioassay at a level of 0.625 cerebral ganglion equivalent in a dilution series ranging down from 5.0 ganglion equivalents, with 1.25 ganglion equivalents being the most potent dose. Egg release could be induced for only a short period of the year in vivo, but this period corresponded well with that of natural spawning in the field.
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005724:Ganglia / Q000502:physiology*; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000502:physiology*; D006868:Hydrolysis; D008297:Male; D010058:Oviposition; D012737:Sex Factors; D012908:Snails / Q000502:physiology*; D014357:Trypsin
D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones; D014357:Trypsin