Abstract
We investigated the involvement of MCH in food intake in barfin flounder. The structure of barfin flounder MCH was determined by cDNA cloning and mass spectrometry. In fasted fish, the MCH gene expression and the number of MCH neurons in the brain were greater than controls. In white-reared fish, the MCH gene expression and the number of MCH neurons in the brain were greater than black-reared fish. Furthermore, white-reared fish grew faster than black-reared fish. These results indicate that a white background stimulated production of MCH and MCH, in turn, enhanced body growth, probably by stimulating food intake.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Amino Acid Sequence
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Animals
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Base Sequence
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Cloning, Molecular
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Conserved Sequence
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DNA Primers
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DNA, Complementary
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Energy Intake*
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Fasting / physiology
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Flounder / physiology*
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Gene Expression Regulation / physiology
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Hypothalamic Hormones / genetics
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Hypothalamic Hormones / physiology*
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Hypothalamus / physiology
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Melanins / genetics
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Melanins / physiology*
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Molecular Sequence Data
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Pituitary Hormones / genetics
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Pituitary Hormones / physiology*
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Polymerase Chain Reaction
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Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
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Sequence Alignment
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Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
Substances
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DNA Primers
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DNA, Complementary
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Hypothalamic Hormones
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Melanins
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Pituitary Hormones
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melanin-concentrating hormone