title: Seasonal modulation of growth hormone mRNA and protein levels in carp pituitary: evidence for two expressed genes.
abstract: Adaptation of eurythermal fish to naturally varying environmental conditions involves modulation of expressions of various factors in the hypothalamo-hypophyseal axis. Here we used three complementary approaches to assess the seasonal variation of growth hormone (GH) protein and mRNA levels in pituitary glands of acclimatized carp fish. First, a polyclonal antibody raised against an oligopeptide derived from the carp GH sequence was used for immunohistochemistry; second, oligonucleotides specific for GH transcripts were used for in situ hybridization. Specific immunodetection of GH coincides with visualization of GH mRNA in the proximal pars distalis, the specific location of somatotroph cells in carp pituitary gland. Finally, competitive RT-PCR analyses confirmed that GH expression exhibits seasonal cyclical reprogramming with higher levels in summer- than in winter-adapted fish. The expression pattern suggests an important role for GH in the molecular mechanisms underlying the acclimatization process. In parallel, amplification of sequences from the fourth intron and adjacent sites from exons IV and V demonstrates the existence of a new GH gene previously undescribed. The detection of transcripts corresponding to each gene suggests that both GH gene copies are active in the duplicated carp genome and that they are similarly affected by seasonal adaptation.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Bioquímica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Isla Teja, Casilla, 567 Valdivia, Chile. jefigueroa@uach.cl
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Figueroa
authors.forename: R San
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Martín
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Flores
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Grothusen
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kausel
mesh_terms: D000064:Acclimatization / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002347:Carps / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D029941:Fish Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007438:Introns; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000502:physiology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012621:Seasons; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D029941:Fish Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D013006:Growth Hormone
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