spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Related articles in JEB
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by White, S. A.
Right arrow Articles by Fernald, R. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by White, S. A.
Right arrow Articles by Fernald, R. D.
The Journal of Experimental Biology 205, 2567-2581 (2002)
© 2002 The Company of Biologists Limited

Social regulation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone

Stephanie A. White*, Tuan Nguyen and Russell D. Fernald

Program in Neuroscience, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-2130, USA
* Present address: Department of Physiological Science, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA

(e-mail: swhite{at}physci.ucla.edu)

Accepted 27 May 2002

Behavioral interactions among social animals can regulate both reproductive behavior and fertility. A prime example of socially regulated reproduction occurs in the cichlid fish Haplochromis burtoni, in which interactions between males dynamically regulate gonadal function throughout life. This plasticity is mediated by the brain, where neurons that contain the key reproductive regulatory peptide gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) change size reversibly depending on male social status. To understand how behavior controls the brain, we manipulated the social system of these fish, quantified their behavior and then assessed neural and physiological changes in the reproductive and stress axes. GnRH gene expression was assessed using molecular probes specific for the three GnRH forms in the brain of H. burtoni. We found that perception of social opportunity to increase status by a male leads to heightened aggressiveness, to increased expression of only one of the three GnRH forms and to increases in size of GnRH-containing neurons and of the gonads. The biological changes characteristic of social ascent happen faster than changes following social descent. Interestingly, behavioral changes show the reverse pattern: aggressive behaviors emerge more slowly in ascending animals than they disappear in descending animals. Although the gonads and GnRH neurons undergo similar changes in female H. burtoni, regulation occurs via endogenous rather than exogenous social signals. Our data show that recognition of social signals by males alters stress levels, which may contribute to the alteration in GnRH gene expression in particular neurons essential for the animal to perform in its new social status.

Key words: behaviour, gonadotropin-releasing hormone, cichlid, Haplochromis burtoni, gonad


Related articles in JEB:

Sex in Cichlid Society
Kathryn Phillips
JEB 2002 205: i. [Full Text]  



This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
L. Wang, H. Dankert, P. Perona, and D. J. Anderson
Inaugural Article: A common genetic target for environmental and heritable influences on aggressiveness in Drosophila
PNAS, April 15, 2008; 105(15): 5657 - 5663.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
M. M. Holmes, G. J. Rosen, C. L. Jordan, G. J. de Vries, B. D. Goldman, and N. G. Forger
Social control of brain morphology in a eusocial mammal
PNAS, June 19, 2007; 104(25): 10548 - 10552.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Neurosci.Home page
L. Remage-Healey and A. H. Bass
Plasticity in Brain Sexuality Is Revealed by the Rapid Actions of Steroid Hormones
J. Neurosci., January 31, 2007; 27(5): 1114 - 1122.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 EndocrinologyHome page
B. C. Trainor and H. A. Hofmann
Somatostatin Regulates Aggressive Behavior in an African Cichlid Fish
Endocrinology, November 1, 2006; 147(11): 5119 - 5125.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J EndocrinolHome page
V. N Parikh, T. Clement, and R. D Fernald
Physiological consequences of social descent: studies in Astatotilapia burtoni.
J. Endocrinol., July 1, 2006; 190(1): 183 - 190.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Biol. Reprod.Home page
A. K. Greenwood and R. D. Fernald
Social Regulation of the Electrical Properties of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Neurons in a Cichlid Fish (Astatotilapia burtoni)
Biol Reprod, September 1, 2004; 71(3): 909 - 918.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Integr. Comp. Biol.Home page
R. D. Fernald
How does Behavior Change the Brain? Multiple Methods to Answer Old Questions
Integr. Comp. Biol., December 1, 2003; 43(6): 771 - 779.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Integr. Comp. Biol.Home page
R. Knapp
Endocrine Mediation of Vertebrate Male Alternative Reproductive Tactics: The Next Generation of Studies
Integr. Comp. Biol., November 1, 2003; 43(5): 658 - 668.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 EndocrinologyHome page
I. S. Parhar, S. Ogawa, T. Hamada, and Y. Sakuma
Single-Cell Real-Time Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction of Immunofluorescently Identified Neurons of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Subtypes in Cichlid Fish
Endocrinology, August 1, 2003; 144(8): 3297 - 3300.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2002