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Evidence that ghrelin may be associated with the food intake of gibel carp (Carassius auratus gibelio)

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Abstract

Ghrelin, a non-amidated peptide hormone, is a potent anorectic neuropeptide implicated in feeding regulation in mammals and non-mammalian vertebrates. However, the involvement of ghrelin in the feeding behavior of teleosts has not been well understood. To better understand the role of ghrelin in the regulation of appetite in fish, in this study, we cloned the cDNAs encoding ghrelin and investigated their mRNA distributions in gibel carp tissues. We also assessed the effects of different nutritional status on ghrelin mRNA abundance. Ghrelin mRNAs were ubiquitously expressed in ten tissues (intestine, liver, brain, mesonephron, head kidney, spleen, skin, heart, muscle, gill and pituitary gland), and relatively high expression levels were detected in the gut. Postprandial studies analysis revealed a significant postprandial decrease in ghrelin mRNA expression in the gut (1 and 3 h after the regular feeding time). In addition, ghrelin mRNA expression in the gut significantly increased at day 7 after fasting and declined sharply after refeeding, which suggested that ghrelin might be involved in the regulation of appetite in gibel carp. Overall, our result provides basis for further investigation into the regulation of feeding in gibel carp.

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Abbreviations

GHSR:

Growth hormone secretagogue receptor

GH:

Growth hormone

qPCR:

Real-time quantitative PCR

ORF:

Open reading frame

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. XDJK2016C047) and the Youth Foundation of Southwest University Rongchang Campus (No. 132030/20700914) and the Ecological Fishery Industry Technology System of Chongqing (No. 134030/40800115).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Aquaculture, Department of Fisheries, Southwest University, Rongchang Campus, 402460, Chongqing, China

      Chaowei Zhou, Jinfa Zheng, Luo Lei, Chengke Zhu, Hua Ye, Dan Wang, Minmin Yang, Jingjing Wu, Long Zhu & Benhe Zeng

    2. Department of Aquaculture, College of Life Sciences, Neijiang Normal University, 641000, Neijiang, Sichuan, China

      Dengyue Yuan

    3. Tibet Academy of Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Sciences, 850002, Lhasa, Tibet, China

      Chi Zhang

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    1. Chaowei Zhou
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    Correspondence to Chaowei Zhou.

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    Chaowei Zhou and Jinfa Zheng contributed equally to this work.

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    Zhou, C., Zheng, J., Lei, L. et al. Evidence that ghrelin may be associated with the food intake of gibel carp (Carassius auratus gibelio). Fish Physiol Biochem 42, 1637–1646 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-016-0246-y

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