The saccus vasculosus of fish is a sensor of seasonal changes in day length

The pars tuberalis of the pituitary gland is the regulatory hub for seasonal reproduction in birds and mammals. Although fish also exhibit robust seasonal responses, they do not possess an anatomically distinct pars tuberalis. Here we report that the saccus vasculosus of fish is a seasonal sensor. W...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications Vol. 4; no. 1; p. 2108
Main Authors: Nakane, Yusuke, Ikegami, Keisuke, Iigo, Masayuki, Ono, Hiroko, Takeda, Korenori, Takahashi, Daisuke, Uesaka, Maiko, Kimijima, Meita, Hashimoto, Ramu, Arai, Natsumi, Suga, Takuya, Kosuge, Katsuya, Abe, Tomotaka, Maeda, Ryosuke, Senga, Takumi, Amiya, Noriko, Azuma, Teruo, Amano, Masafumi, Abe, Hideki, Yamamoto, Naoyuki, Yoshimura, Takashi
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 02.07.2013
Nature Publishing Group
Subjects:
631/378/2620
631/601/2722
Animal Structures - cytology
Animal Structures - physiology
Animal Structures - ultrastructure
Animals
Autoradiography
Brain - metabolism
Cells, Cultured
Fishes - anatomy & histology
Fishes - genetics
Fishes - physiology
Gene Expression Regulation
Humanities and Social Sciences
Male
multidisciplinary
Multigene Family
Photoperiod
Reproduction - genetics
Rhodopsin - genetics
Rhodopsin - metabolism
Salmon
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Seasons
Signal Transduction - genetics
Testis - growth & development
Testis - metabolism
ISSN:2041-1723, 2041-1723
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The pars tuberalis of the pituitary gland is the regulatory hub for seasonal reproduction in birds and mammals. Although fish also exhibit robust seasonal responses, they do not possess an anatomically distinct pars tuberalis. Here we report that the saccus vasculosus of fish is a seasonal sensor. We observe expression of key genes regulating seasonal reproduction and rhodopsin family genes in the saccus vasculosus of masu salmon. Immunohistochemical studies demonstrate that all of these genes are expressed in the coronet cells of the saccus vasculosus, suggesting the existence of a photoperiodic signalling pathway from light input to neuroendocrine output. In addition, isolated saccus vasculosus has the capacity to respond to photoperiodic signals, and its removal abolishes photoperiodic response of the gonad. Although the physiological role of the saccus vasculosus has been a mystery for several centuries, our findings indicate that the saccus vasculosus acts as a sensor of seasonal changes in day length in fish. The saccus vasculosus is a circumventricular organ of the hypothalamus of many jawed fish whose function has remained a mystery for more than 300 years. Here the authors provide evidence that the saccus vasculosus functions as a sensor of seasonal changes in day length.
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ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/ncomms3108