Full-Length Transcriptome Analysis of the Pituitary of Pre-matured and matured female Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica)
Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) is a migratory fish with high economic value. The gonads of eels cultured in captivity do not mature naturally, and under artificial ripening, their hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis is activated and the maturation coefficient of the gonads is significantly increased. Previous studies on eel breeding have focused on reproductive physiological processes, with limited insight into the molecular mechanisms in the pituitary gland that influence ovarian development. To address these limitations, we used pituitary tissues of female Japanese eels as samples for full-length transcriptome analyses, selecting pre-matured (PP) and after-matured (AP) samples to investigate DEGs and signal pathways regulating gonadal development in the pituitary gland, respectively.