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Expression and Distribution of Gonad‐stimulating Substance in Various Organs of the Starfish Asterina pectinifera
Author(s) -
Mita Masatoshi,
Ito Chika,
Kubota Eri,
Nagahama Yoshitaka,
Shibata Yasushi
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2008.03626.x
Subject(s) - starfish , gonad , biology , echinoderm , neuropeptide , reverse transcriptase , medicine , hormone , messenger rna , marine invertebrates , endocrinology , microbiology and biotechnology , anatomy , gene , ecology , receptor , rna , genetics
Gonad‐stimulating substance (GSS) is the first invertebrate gonadotropic neuropeptide hormone identified in a marine invertebrate, the starfish. Here, we show expression and distribution of GSS in various organs of the starfish Asterina pectinifera . Levels of GSS were high in the radial nerves and nerve ring. GSS was also observed in the cardiac stomachs and tube‐feet, although in low amounts, but it was undetectable in the gonads and in the pyloric ceca. Reverse transcriptase‐PCR revealed that the mRNA of GSS was transcribed mainly in the radial nerves.