Two forms of vitellogenin in the plasma and gonads of male Oreochromis aureus

Abstract

1. 1. Two days after stimulation of male Oreochromis aureus with estradiol at 4 μg/g body weight, two vitellogenins of 300,000 and 500,000 daltons were enhanced with a simulataneous drop in albumin. 2. 2. Anti-vitellogenin antibodies were highly species-specific. No cross-reaction was observed with distant relatives from family Cyprinidae (Carp and goldfish), nor with vitellogenin of fish from within the same family (Pterophyllum spp.; angel fish). 3. 3. Of particular interest is the detection of these vitellogenins, albeit in low quantities, in the plasma and gonads of unstimulated male fish. Th gonadal vitellogenins are also inducible by exogenous estradiol. © 1989.