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High Transcript Level of Fatty Acid-Binding Protein 11 but Not of Very Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor Is Correlated to Ovarian Follicle Atresia in a Teleost Fish (Solea senegalensis)¹

Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries Center of Aquaculture,³ Sant Carles de la Ràpita, Tarragona 43540, Spain Génomique et Physiologie des Poissons,⁴ Université Bordeaux 1, UMR NuAGe, 33405 Talence, France Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries Lab IRTA-ICM (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas),⁵ 08003 Barcelona, Spain

ABSTRACT

Transcripts encoding a fatty acid-binding protein (FABP), Fabp11, and two isoforms of very low-density lipoprotein receptor (Vldlr; vitellogenin receptor) were characterized from the ovary of Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis). Phylogenetic analyses of vertebrate FABPs demonstrated that Senegalese sole Fabp11, as zebrafish (Danio rerio) homologous sequences, is part of a newly defined teleost fish FABP subfamily that is a sister clade of tetrapod FABP4/FABP5/FABP8/FABP9. RT-PCR revealed high levels of vldlr transcript splicing variants in the ovaries and, to a lesser extent, in somatic tissues, whereas fabp11 was highly expressed in the ovaries, liver, and adipose tissue. In situ hybridization analysis showed vldlr and fabp11 mRNAs in previtellogenic oocytes, whereas no hybridization signals were detected in the larger vitellogenic oocytes. Transcript expression of fabp11 was strongly upregulated in somatic cells surrounding atretic follicles. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR demonstrated that ovarian transcript levels of vldlr and fabp11 had a significant positive correlation with the percentage of follicles in previtellogenesis and atresia, respectively. These results suggest that the expression level of vldlr transcripts may be used as a precocious functional marker to quantify the number of oocytes recruited for vitellogenesis and that fabp11 mRNA may be a very useful molecular marker for determining cellular events and environmental factors that regulate follicular atresia in fish.

follicular development, gametogenesis, gene regulation, oocyte development, ovary

¹Supported by the French Ministry of Research and Education to P.J.B, and by the Junta Asesora de Cultivos Marinos (JACUMAR, Spain) and Reference Center in Aquaculture (Spain) to J.C. M.J.A. was supported by a predoctoral fellowship from the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA, Spain). S.M. was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the French government.

Correspondence: ²Patrick J. Babin, Génomique et Physiologie des Poissons, Université Bordeaux 1, UMR NuAGe, Avenue des Facultés, Bât. B2, 33405 Talence Cedex, France. FAX: 33 540008915; e-mail: p.babin{at}gpp.u-bordeaux1.fr