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Annual patterns of ocular melatonin level in the female grass puffer, Takifugu alboplumbeus: possible involvement in seasonal reproductive response

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the expression patterns of ocular melatonin in the annual reproductive cycle of the female grass puffer. Spawning season of the female grass puffer is from June to July in Jeju, South Korea. Time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay revealed that levels of ocular melatonin, which show an annual change, peaked in May (spawning season). Additionally, expression of reproductive-related genes also showed annual patterns: GnRH1 peaked in August, GnRH2 peaked in February, GnRH3, Kiss2, and LPXRFa peaked in November. These results suggest that ocular melatonin may be related to the annual reproductive cycle in the grass puffer. To better understand the photic regulation of AANAT1a mRNA in the retina, we observed the nocturnal pattern of ocular melatonin levels daily, which shows a nocturnal pattern in both short photoperiod (SD) and long photoperiod (LD) conditions. In the brain, AANAT2 mRNA also shows a nocturnal pattern in both SD and LD; however, the time of peak expression of AANAT2 mRNA was unchanged in both conditions. Following intraperitoneal injection of melatonin for 2 weeks, expression of GnRH2 and LPXRFa mRNA in the brain significantly increased, while that of Kiss2 mRNA was decreased, suggesting that melatonin has a reproduction-related effect. Furthermore, under SD and LD conditions for 14 weeks, the gonadosomatic index more increased and the maturity of the ovary progressed under LD compared with those under SD, suggesting that the SD photoperiodic signal inactivated ovarian development. These results indicate that the ocular melatonin may have a possible role in the reproductive endocrinology of the grass puffer.

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Funding

This research was supported by the project “Innovative marine production technology driven by LED–ICT convergence photo-biology,” Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Korea, and by a grant from the National Institute of Fisheries Science (R2017038) and Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (2012R1A6A3A04041089) to SPH.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Science Institute, Jeju National University, Jeju, 695-965, Republic of Korea

    Byeong-Hoon Kim & Young-Don Lee

  2. Jeju Research Institute, Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology, 2670, Iijudong-ro, Gujwa-eup, Jeju, 63349, Republic of Korea

    Sung-Pyo Hur & Ji-Yeon Hyeon

  3. Department of Chemistry, Biology and Marine Science, Faculty of Science, University of the Ryukyus, Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa, 903-0213, Japan

    Fumika Yamashina & Akihiro Takemura

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  1. Byeong-Hoon Kim
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  2. Sung-Pyo Hur
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  4. Fumika Yamashina
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  5. Akihiro Takemura
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Correspondence to Sung-Pyo Hur.

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Kim, BH., Hur, SP., Hyeon, JY. et al. Annual patterns of ocular melatonin level in the female grass puffer, Takifugu alboplumbeus: possible involvement in seasonal reproductive response. Fish Physiol Biochem 46, 787–801 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-019-00749-9

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