PUBLICATION

Fish reproductive biology - reflecting on five decades of fundamental and translational research

Authors
Zohar, Y.
ID
ZDB-PUB-200704-9
Date
2020
Source
General and comparative endocrinology   300: 113544 (Other)
Registered Authors
Zohar, Yonathan
Keywords
Fish reproduction and aquaculture, Fish reproductive biology, Fish reproductive endocrinology, Fundamental and applied research in fish reproduction, Gonadotropin-releasing hormones, Gonadotropins, Reproductive sterility, Reproductive steroids, Spawning induction
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Aquaculture
  • Fishes/physiology*
  • Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone/metabolism
  • Models, Animal
  • Reproduction/physiology*
  • Translational Research, Biomedical*
PubMed
32615136 Full text @ Gen. Comp. Endocrinol.
Abstract
Driven by the broad diversity of species and physiologies and by reproduction-related bottlenecks in aquaculture, the field of fish reproductive biology has rapidly grown over the last five decades. This review provides my perspective on the field during this period, integrating fundamental and applied developments and milestones. Our basic understanding of the brain-pituitary-gonadal axis led to overcoming the failure of farmed fish to ovulate and spawn in captivity, allowing us to close the fish life cycle and establish a predictable, year-round production of eggs. Dissecting the molecular and hormonal mechanisms associated with sex determination and differentiation drove technologies for producing better performing mono-sex and reproductively-sterile fish. The growing contingent of passionate fish biologists, together with the availability of innovative platforms such as transgenesis and gene editing, as well as new models such as the zebrafish and medaka, have generated many discoveries, also leading to new insights of reproductive biology in higher vertebrates including humans. Consequently, fish have now been widely accepted as vertebrate reproductive models. Perhaps the best testament of the progress in our discipline is demonstrated at the International Symposia on Reproductive Physiology of Fish (ISRPF), at which our scientific family has convened every four years since the grandfather of the field, the late Ronald Billard, organized the inaugural 1977 meeting in Paimpont, France. As the one person who has been fortunate enough to attend all of these meetings since their inception, I have witnessed first-hand the astounding evolution of our field as we capitalized on the molecular and biotechnological revolutions in the life sciences, which enabled us to provide a higher resolution of fish reproductive and endocrine processes, answer more questions, and dive into deeper comprehension. Undoubtedly, the next (five) decades will be similarly exciting as we continue to integrate physiology with genomics, basic and translational research, and the small fish models with the aquacultured species.
Genes / Markers
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Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping