SHORT PHOTOPERIOD ACCELERATES PREOPTIC AND VENTRAL TELENCEPHALIC SALMON GNRH SYNTHESIS AND PRECOCIOUS MATURATION IN UNDERYEARLING MALE MASU SALMON

The temporal relationship between testicular maturation and salmon gonadotropin-releasing hormone (sGnRH) mRNA expression was investigated in underyearling precocious male masu salmon, Oncorhynchus masou. Testicular maturation could be experimentally manipulated by changing the length of the light-dark photoperiod; maturation was accelerated in the short photoperiod group (8L-16D) and delayed in the long photoperiod group (16L-8D). sGnRH synthetic activity in the preoptic area and the ventral telencephalon, i.e., the number of neurons expressing sGnRH mRNA and total silver grains in these loci in individual fish, increased with advancing testicular maturation. They were maximal in the short photoperiod group in August and in the long photoperiod group in September, when spermiation occurred. In contrast, marked changes in sGnRH synthetic activity in relation to testicular maturation were not observed in the terminal nerve ganglion or in the olfactory bulbs. sGnRH neurons in the preoptic area and the ventral telencephalon are clearly influenced by photoperiod and are involved in the control of gonadal maturation probably via gonadotropin secretion. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.