Effects of sex hormone rescue on gametogenesis in allotriploid crucian carp

Sex hormones play an important role in gametogenesis . During the breeding season, sex hormone levels in the sterile allotriploid crucian carp (3nAT) were significantly lower than those in the fertile diploid red crucian carp (2nRCC). Sex hormone rescue was performed to study the relationship between sex hormones and 3nAT sterility. For three months before breeding season, 3nAT females and males were fed the sex hormones estradiol and testosterone, respectively. During breeding season, hormone-rescued 3nAT fish (re-3nAT) showed normal reproductive behavior, and levels of estradiol in female re-3nAT and testosterone in male re-3nAT were similar to those of the diploid control (2nRCC). The vtg gene, which is associated with the hepatic synthesis of vitellogenin in the female, and the genes spef2, tekt1, and ift27 , which are associated with the formation of the sperm flagellum, were significantly upregulated in re-3nAT as compared to 3nAT. Under artificially assisted reproduction, re-3nAT individuals produced a few eggs of different sizes and sperm with abnormal structures. However, few individuals had insemination ability. Neither zygotes produced by self-crossing re-3nAT nor those produced by crossing re-3nAT with the haploid gametes produced by 2nRCC exhibited normal embryonic development. Thus, although sex hormone treatment led to the production of abnormal gametes by re-3nAT, viable offspring did not develop, meaning that re-3nAT remained sterile. These results indicated that sex hormones affected gamete maturation but were not the determinant of triploid sterility.