Abstract
An evaluation was conducted on the availability of bluegill Lepomis macrochirus vitellogenin gene transcription as a useful biomarker for detection of xenoestrogens. A cDNA partial sequence of the vitellogenin gene that was highly homologous to the vitellogenin Ab gene from other fish was isolated from L. macrochirus. In the 17β-estradiol exposure test, transcription of the vitellogenin gene in liver was confirmed in the fish exposed to over 0.5 ng/g body mass. On the other hand, as for the concentration of plasma 17β-estradiol, significant difference was observed in the dose group of over 500 ng/g body mass in comparison with the control fish. These results suggested that vitellogenin transcription in L. macrochirus is useful for monitoring of xenoestrogens.
