STRUCTURE, LOCALIZATION, AND MOLECULAR PHYLOGENY OF A GNRH CDNA FROM A PARACANTHOPTERYGIAN FISH, THE PLAINFIN MIDSHIPMAN (PORICHTHYS NOTATUS)

Multiple forms of gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) are found within several species of teleost fishes. Within the infradivision Euteleostei, the superorder Paracanthopterygii represents one of the last major groups to be examined with respect to the GnRH mRNA sequence. The plainfin midshipman, Porichthys notatus, is a common member of this superorder which is intermediate between the ancestral euteleost taxa and the more derived Acanthopterygians (percomorphs). The goals of this study were to: (1) determine the cDNA sequence of prepro-GnRH in the plainfin midshipman, (2) address the anatomical localization of midshipman prepro-GnRH gene expression, and (3) perform a cladistic analysis using all currently known cDNA sequences of prepro-GnRH. We report 460 base pair of cDNA sequence containing the entire protein coding region, and 5'- and 3'-untranslated regions. The deduced amino acid sequence indicates that this cDNA encodes a GnRH decapeptide identical in sequence to that originally isolated in salmon (Trp7, leu8 - GnRH). Northern analysis demonstrated transcripts in brain, ovary, and testis (600-700 nucleotides). PCR showed that the ovarian prepro-GnRH was identical to that found in brain. In situ hybridization labeled neurons in the ganglion of the terminal nerve and the preoptic area, forebrain areas previously observed to contain GnRH-like immunoreactivity. Last, a phylogenetic analysis of 18 prepro-GnRH sequences grouped the Paracanthopterygii with the Acanthopterygii. However, this recent clade was distinct from two separate and more ancestral lineages, the Paracanthopterygii (salmonids) and Ostariophysi (represented by catfish). (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.