GH-IGF Axis in Sparus aurata: Possible Applications to Genetic Selection
Authors: Funkenstein Bruria , Duan Cunming 
Published: December 2021

Many factors affect growth rate in fish: environmental, nutritional, genetics and endogenous (physiological) factors. Endogenous control of growth is very complex and many hormone systems are involved. Nevertheless, it is well accepted that growth hormone (GH) plays a major role in stimulating somatic growth. Although it is now clear that most, if not all, components of the GH-IGF axis exist in fish, we are still far from understanding how fish grow. In our project we used as the experimental system a marine fish, the gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata), which inhabits lagoons along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of Europe, and represents one of the most important fish species used in the mariculture industry in the Mediterranean region, including Israel. Production of Sparus is rapidly growing, however, in order for this production to stay competitive, the farming of this fish species has to intensify and become more efficient. One drawback, still, in Sparus extensive culture is that it grows relatively slow. In addition, it is now clear that growth and reproduction are physiological interrelated processes that affect each other. In particular sexual maturation (puberty) is known to be closely related to growth rate in fish as it is in mammals, indicating interactions between the somatotropic and gonadotropic axes. The goal of our project was to try to identify the rate-limiting components(s) in Sparus aurata GH-IGF system which might explain its slow growth by studying the ontogeny of growth-related genes: GH, GH receptor, IGF-I, IGF-II, IGF receptor, IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) and Pit-1 during early stages of development of Sparus aurata larvae from slow and fast growing lines. Our project was a continuation of a previous BARD project and could be divided into five major parts: i) obtaining additional tools to those obtained in the previous project that are necessary to carry out the developmental study; ii) the developmental expression of growth-related genes and their cellular localization; iii) tissue-specific expression and effect of GH on expression of growth-related genes; iv) possible relationship between GH gene structure, growth rate and genetic selection; v) the possible role of the IGF system in gonadal development. The major findings of our research can be summarized as follows: 1) The cDNAs (complete or partial) coding for Sparus IGFBP-2, GH receptor and Pit-1 were cloned. Sequence comparison reveals that the primary structure of IGFBP-2 protein is 43-49% identical to that of zebrafish and other vertebrates. Intensive efforts resulted in cloning a fragment of 138 nucleotides, coding for 46 amino acids in the proximal end of the intracellular domain of GH receptor. This is the first fish GH receptor cDNA that had been cloned to date. The cloned fragment will enable us to complete the GH - receptor cloning. 2) IGF-I, IGF-II, IGFBP-2, and IGF receptor transcripts were detected by RT-PCR method throughout development in unfertilized eggs, embryos, and larvae suggesting that these mRNAs are products of both the maternal and the embryonic genomes. Preliminary RT-PCR analysis suggest that GH receptor transcript is present in post-hatching larvae already on day 1. 3) IGF-1R transcripts were detected in all tissues tested by RT-PCR with highest levels in gill cartilage, skin, kidney, heart, pyloric caeca, and brain. Northern blot analysis detected IGF receptor only in gonads, brain and gill cartilage but not in muscle; GH increased slightly brain and gill cartilage IGF-1R mRNA levels. 4) IGFBP-2 transcript were detected only in liver and gonads, when analyzed by Northern blots; RT-PCR analysis revealed expression in all tissues studied, with the highest levels found in liver, skin, gonad and pyloric caeca. 5) Expression of IGF-I, IGF-II, IGF-1R and IGFBP-2 was analyzed during gonadal development. High levels of IGF-I and IGFBP-2 expression were found in bisexual young gonads, which decreased during gonadal development. Regardless of maturational stage, IGF-II levels were higher than those of IGF-L 6) The GH gene was cloned and its structure was characterized. It contains minisatellites of tandem repeats in the first and third introns that result in high level of genetic polymorphism. 7) Analysis of the presence of IGF-I and two types of IGF receptor by immunohistochemistry revealed tissue- and stage-specific expression during larval development. Immunohistochemistry also showed that IGF-I and its receptors are present in both testicular and ovarian cells. Although at this stage we are not able to pinpoint which is the rate-limiting step causing the slow growth of Sparus aurata, our project (together with the previous BARD) yielded a great number of experimental tools both DNA probes and antibodies that will enable further studies on the factors regulating growth in Sparus aurata. Our expression studies and cellular localization shed new light on the tissue and developmental expression of growth-related genes in fish.