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Molecular cloning and dimorphic expression of growth hormone (gh) in female and male spotted scat Scatophagus argus

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Abstract

Spotted scat Scatophagus argus exhibits a typical sexual growth dimorphism in which the females grow faster than the males. Growth hormone (GH) is best known as an anterior pituitary hormone fundamental in regulating growth. To clarify the roles in sexual growth dimorphism in the spotted scat, gh cDNA was isolated from the pituitary. A phylogenetic tree was constructed based on the GH amino acid sequences of spotted scat and other vertebrates, and the resulting topology clearly reflects the taxonomic relationship of the Perciformes species selected. Alignment of GH amino acid sequences displayed very high similarity between the spotted scat and the other Perciformes species. The qRT-PCR analysis demonstrated that females exhibited higher pituitary gh mRNA levels than males at 6, 18, and 30 months (P < 0.05), which was 1.84, 4.61 and 6.34 times greater, respectively. In addition, immature males (6 months) exhibited higher pituitary gh mRNA levels than mature males (18 and 30 months). These results imply that the sexual growth dimorphism may be ascribable to the gh levels in pituitary in spotted scat.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31272640) and the Science and Technology Projects of Zhanjiang (No. 2012C3102001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fisheries College, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, China

    Si-Ping Deng, Bo Wu, Chun-Hua Zhu & Guang-Li Li

  2. Key Laboratory of Aquaculture in South China Sea for Aquatic Economic Animal of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, China

    Si-Ping Deng, Bo Wu, Chun-Hua Zhu & Guang-Li Li

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  1. Si-Ping Deng
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Correspondence to Guang-Li Li.

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Deng, SP., Wu, B., Zhu, CH. et al. Molecular cloning and dimorphic expression of growth hormone (gh) in female and male spotted scat Scatophagus argus . Fish Sci 80, 715–723 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-014-0763-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-014-0763-5

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