Expression pattern analysis of anti-Mullerian Hormone (Amh) in testis development of pearlscale angelfish (Centropyge vrolikii).

In vertebrates, anti-Mullerian hormone (Amh) secreted by Sertoli cells (SCs) performs a pivotal function in male sex differentiation. Compared with higher vertebrates, the expression pattern of Amh is more diversified in fish. In this study, the full-length cDNA of Amh in Centropyge vrolikii (Cv-Amh) was cloned and analyzed, which was 2,470 bp, including a 238 bp 5'UTR, a 1,602 bp ORF and a 633 bp 3'UTR, the similarity of Amh between Cv-Amh and other fish is relatively high. The quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) results of healthy tissues and gonads at sex reversal stages in C.vrolikii showed that the expression level of Amh in the testis was significantly higher than that in other tissues (p < 0.05). Amh was weakly expressed in the vitellogenic stage ovary and perinucleolus stage ovary, but significantly increased in the gonads at the hermaphroditic stage, and finally reached the highest in the pure testis after sexual reversal. The results of in situ hybridization indicated that the positive signal of Amh was strongly concentrated in SCs of testis. After knockdown Amh in the gonads, the effect on sex-related genes was tested by qRT-PCR. Among these, the expression of Dmrt1, Cyp11a, Hsd11b2, Sox8 and Sox9 were significantly decreased, while Cyp19a, Sox4, Foxl2 and Sox3 were increased. These results suggested that Amh could be the pivotal gene in reproductive regulation in C. vrolikii, and the data will contribute to sex-related research of C. vrolikii in the future. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.