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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Physiol.
Sec. Aquatic Physiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1404834
This article is part of the Research Topic Endocrine Regulation and Physiological Adaptation of Stress Response in Aquatic Organisms, Volume II View all 5 articles

Effects of flowing water stimulation on hormone regulation during the maturation process of Conger myriaster ovaries

Provisionally accepted
Zhengcheng Li Zhengcheng Li Rucong Liu Rucong Liu Jingwei Liu Jingwei Liu *Zhixin Jiang Zhixin Jiang *Xubing Ba Xubing Ba *Kang Li Kang Li *Liping Liu Liping Liu *
  • Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Conger eel (Conger myriaster) is an economically important species in China. Due to the complex life history of the conger eel, achieving artificial reproduction has remained elusive. This study aimed to explore the effect of water stimulation on hormonal regulation during the artificial reproduction of conger eel. The experiment was divided into four groups: A1 (no hormone injection, still water), A2 (no hormone injection, flowing water), B1 (hormone injection, still water), and B2 (hormone injection, flowing water). The flowing water group maintained a flow velocity of 0.4 ± 0.05m/s for 12 hours daily throughout the 60-day period. Steroid hormone levels in the serum and ovaries of conger eels were analyzed using UPLC-MS/MS and ELISA on the 30th and 60th days of the experiment. The relative expression levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSHβ) and luteinizing hormone (LHβ) in the pituitary were determined by quantitative PCR. The results showed a significantly lower gonadosomatic index (GSI) in B2 compared to B1 (P < 0.05) on the 30th day. FSH was found to act only in the early stages of ovarian development, with water stimulation significantly enhancing FSH synthesis (P < 0.05), while FSHβ gene was not expressed after hormone injection. Conversely, LH was highly expressed in late ovarian development, with flowing water stimulation significantly promoting LH synthesis (P < 0.05). Serum cortisol (COR) levels were significantly higher in the flowing water group than in the still water group (P < 0.05). Furthermore, estradiol (E2) content of B2 was significantly lower than that of B1 on the 30th and 60th day. Overall, flowing water stimulation enhanced the synthesis of FSH in early ovarian development and LH in late ovarian development, while reducing E2 accumulation in the ovaries. In this study, the effect of flowing water stimulation on hormone regulation during the artificial reproduction of conger eel was initially investigated to provide a theoretical basis for optimizing artificial reproduction techniques.

    Keywords: Conger eel, Artificial reproduction, Swimming, ovarian development, Hormone regulation

    Received: 21 Mar 2024; Accepted: 11 Apr 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Li, Liu, Liu, Jiang, Ba, Li and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Jingwei Liu, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, 130012, Shanghai Municipality, China
    Zhixin Jiang, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, 130012, Shanghai Municipality, China
    Xubing Ba, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, 130012, Shanghai Municipality, China
    Kang Li, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, 130012, Shanghai Municipality, China
    Liping Liu, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, 130012, Shanghai Municipality, China

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