Abstract
There is great variation in the size and shape of teleost eggs from species to species. The size of the teleost egg depends on the amount of yolk accumulated in the egg, which is an important factor directly affecting the survival of hatchlings. Egg shape also contributes significantly to spawning ecology and survival during the prehatching stage. In this study, we used bitterlings, which show a wide variety of egg volumes and shapes, to elucidate whether these factors are determined by germ cells or somatic cells. Reciprocal transplantations of germ cells between two bitterling species revealed that the egg volume was identical to that of the germ cell donor species in both combinations. The egg shape was also very similar to that of the species providing the germ cells. These results suggest that the volume and shape of teleost eggs are greatly influenced by germ cell autonomy.
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Raw data for this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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This study was supported by MEXT (23H00344) and JST (JPMJMI21C1).
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AO and GY initially conceived the study and design experiments. AO and KY performed overall experimental analyses. GY prepared the first draft of the manuscript. The manuscript was further finalized and approved by all authors.
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Octavera, A., Yamakawa, K. & Yoshizaki, G. The volume and shape of bitterling eggs are more strongly influenced by germ cell autonomy than by the surrounding somatic cells. Fish Physiol Biochem 49, 967–981 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-023-01235-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-023-01235-z