Gonadal sex reversal in triploid rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

Abstract

Sex determination in salmonids is primarily governed by sex chromosomes; however, phenotypic expression and successful development of the gonads may be influenced by additional factors. Exposure to exogenous steroids during the critical period of gonadal differentiation will reverse the expected phenotypic sex of both female and male trout. Triploidy, a viable condition in rainbow trout (RBT), alters the degree of gonadal development in a gender-specific manner. Males produce testes with similar morphology and function as diploid fish, but females produce underdeveloped ovaries devoid of growing oocytes. One possible explanation for this observed gender difference is that the timing of meiotic initiation may influence ovarian/testicular development in triploid RBT. To determine whether the early entrance of germ cells into meiosis results in the lack of ovarian development in triploid females, the objective of this study was to sex-reverse genotypic triploid female RBT (XXX) into phenotypic males and genotypic triploid male RBT (XXY) into phenotypic females. Male fish were exposed to estradiol-17beta (E(2)) and females were exposed to the non-aromatizable androgen 17alpha-methyldihydrotestosterone (MDHT). Over 90% of the male fish treated with exogenous E(2) developed gonadal structures indistinguishable from the gonads of triploid females. Triploid female RBT treated with MDHT developed testes; however, not all fish treated with this androgen were completely sex reversed. The results of this investigation are consistent with the hypothesis that the failure of ovarian development in triploid RBT is due to the early onset of meiosis and does not appear to be due to genotypic sex. J. Exp. Zool. 284:466-472, 1999.