The Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii) is native to the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea and the Azov Sea. It used to breed in the main incoming rivers, until dam construction in the mid 20th century blocked upriver spawning migration. Aquaculture of Russian sturgeon has only recently begun, prompted by their declining populations in natural habitats and the rise in meat and caviar prices. However, information on their gonadal development and puberty under culture conditions is incomplete.
Because sturgeons have no external sexual dimorphism and there are no external markers for sexing, internal examination of the gonads must be employed for gender identification as well as to monitor their development. The present study describes endoscopic and histological observations of the gonads of young Russian sturgeons aimed at identifying gender and monitoring ovarian developmental stage in females up to the age of 6 years, when they enter their first puberty cycle, as well as at 7 years of age, when they have completed vitellogenesis, under culture conditions. This information, as related to fish age and size, is of vital importance to commercial farming of Russian sturgeon for caviar production and reproduction.
For gonadal observations in both sexes, we used an endoscopic system consisting of a 4 mm, 14 cm long cystoscope sheath incorporated with fiber-optic light transmission, connected to a halogen cold light source and a miniature videocamera with a control unit attached to a color monitor. This system allowed us viewing of the fish's abdominal organs, and to save pictures of selected areas of the gonads on a computer as the fish's personal record. Ovarian biopsies were taken in parallel for histology at typical stages of gonadal development.
Gender could be identified with this system as early as at 3 years of age and the sex ratio under culture conditions of females, males and unidentified gender were 55, 40 and 5%, respectively.
Not only did large differences occur in the developmental stages of female of the same age group, but also ovarian development was highly asynchronous at the early vitellogenic stages. In late vitellogenesis, at the “gray egg” stage (1600–2600 μm diameter), the oocytes were quite regular in size and color, and remained so until the final stages of maturity.
Our study suggests that endoscopy is an efficient method for both gender identification at an early age, and for determination of gonadal development stage in sturgeon aquaculture. The ability to see the whole intact gonads of anesthetized fish can reveal important management and research information, with minimal damage or stress to the fish. 相似文献
The annual reproductive cycle of walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) was characterized by documenting changes in gonadal development and serum levels of estradiol-17β (E2), testosterone (T), 17α,20β-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (17,20-P), and 11-ketotestosterone (11-KT) in wild fish captured from
upper midwestern lakes and rivers throughout the year. Fish from the populations used in this study spawn annually in early-
to mid-April. Walleye showed group synchronous ovarian development with exogenous vitellogenesis beginning in autumn. Oocyte
diameters increased rapidly from ∼ 200 μm in October to ∼ 1,000 μm in November, and reached a maximum of 1,500 μm just prior
to spawning. Changes in gonadosomatic indices (GSIs) paralleled changes in oocyte diameters. Serum E2 levels in females increased rapidly from low values in October (< 0.1 ng ml−1) to peak levels of 3.7 ng ml−1 in November, coinciding with the period of the most rapid ovarian growth. Subsequently, E2 levels decreased from December through spawning. Serum T levels exhibited a bimodal pattern, increasing to 1.6 ng ml−1 in November, and peaking again at 3.3 ng ml−1 just prior to spawning. We detected 11-KT in the serum of some females at concentrations up to 5.6 ng ml−1, but no seasonal pattern was apparent. In this study (unlike our results in a related study) 17,20-P was not detected. In
males, differentiation of spermatogonia began in late August, and by January the testes were filled (> 95% of germ cells)
with spermatozoa. Mature spermatozoa could be expressed from males from January through April. GSIs ranged from 0.2% (post-spawn)
to 3.2% (pre-spawn). Serum T levels rose from undetectable levels in post-spawn males to 1.6 ng ml−1 by November, remained elevated throughout the winter, and peaked at 2.8 ng ml−1 I prior to spawning. Levels of 11-KT in males remained low (< 10 ng ml−1, from post-spawning through January, then increased significantly by March and peaked just prior to spawning at 39.7 ng ml−1. Our results indicate that vitellogenesis and spermatogenesis are complete or nearly so, in walleye by early winter, and
suggest that it may be possible to induce spawning in this species several months prior to the normal spawning season by subjecting
fish to relatively simple environmental and hormonal treatments. 相似文献
We examined the somatic embryogenesis from and histological studies of zygotic embryos of seeds in European Grape 'Moldova' (Vitis vinifera L. 'Moldova'). Primary calli were initiated on Nitsch and Nitsch (NN) medium supplemented with 1.0mg'L-1 2,4-D and 0.5 mg'L-1 6-BA. Embryogenic calli were produced upon transfer to a NN medium with 0.5 mg-L-1 6-BA and 2 mg.L-1 NAA and somatic embryos were obtained on a half strength MS medium without plant growth regulators. During the somatic embryo germination, an addition of 1.0 mg.L-1 6-BA in the medium could accelerate somatic embryos to develop into normal plants and increase the conversion rate from 0 to 43.3%. Histological studies of embryogenic calli and somatic embryos demonstrated dy-namic changes of proteins and starch grains. The developmental processes of somatic embryos were similar to those of zygotic em-bryos, including typical epiderma, cotyledon primordium and vascular tissue. 相似文献
Research on the disease called shimao zheng, which had resulted in widespread fleece-eating and shedding by sheep and goats in the Haizi area of Akesa County of Gansu Province of China, was carried out by both laboratory studies and pathological observations. There was a marked deficiency of sulfur in the wool and tissues of the affected animals. The pathological changes were mainly loss of fleece, exposure of the skin, keratinization of the epidermal cells, narrowing and reduced numbers of the fleece follicles, and fewer sebaceous glands and sweat glands. Histologically, there was atrophy of the striated and cardiac muscles and of the epithelium of the convoluted tubules of the kidney, together with a glomerulonephritis. The disease was considered to be a local nutritional and metabolic disorder, probably mainly caused by sulfur deficiency. 相似文献
A collection of 111 barley landraces from the Fertile Crescent was screened for resistance to barley leaf rust in the field and under controlled conditions. Large variation was observed for disease severity under field conditions. Accessions with high resistance because of hypersensitivity were identified. Also segregation was observed in some accessions, with individual plants showing hypersensitive reactions (IT ≤ 6). Partial resistance due to a reduction of infection in spite of a compatible infection was commonly found (19%). Resistance of 12 accessions selected for their low disease severity and high IT, was shown to be due to a prolonged latency period and increased percentage of early aborted colonies not associated with host cell necrosis. A high correlation was observed between the microscopic and macroscopic components of partial resistance. 相似文献
Summary Early stages of the infection process of Puccinia hordei isolate 1.2.1 and of a P. recondita f.sp. tritici isolate were studied on adult plants of four barley lines and one wheat line. Two of the barley lines are extremely susceptible to P. hordei, the other two have a very high level of partial resistance.A histological study based on a trypan blue staining indicated that stoma penetration by P. hordei isolate 1.2.1 was equally successful on the susceptible as on the partially resistant adult barley plants. Abortion of substomatal vesicles was rare in all lines. These results do not support a hypothesis that mechanisms of partial resistance in adult plants differ from those in seedlings by a substantial abortive stoma penetration.Also in the nonhost combinations wheat-P. hordei and barley-P. recondita f.sp. tritici inhibition of stoma penetration and of substomatal vesicle development appears to play a biologically insignificant role in adult plants.The proportion of stoma penetration on the leaf sheaths of two of the barley lines was as high as on the leaf blades of the flag leaf and the leaf below the flag leaf. There was no evidence for stomatal exclusion as a crucial factor in the relatively low infectibility of leaf sheaths to leaf-blade specialized rust species. 相似文献
