Neurobiology of reproduction: interactions between neurohormones and nuclear receptors controlling gonadotoropin release and sexual behaviour

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How does the brain 'translate' changes in the external environment to changes in reproduction?  First we propose to determine which systems in the brain are important.  We study the neurochemicals that control the release of the gonadotropic hormones from the pituitary. These hormones in turn control ovulation in females and sperm production in males, and increase sex steroid (i.e. estrogen) production in those organs.  We study the genes that produce proteins important for neurochemical synthesis (enzymes) and action (receptors).  We also propose to determine how chemical signals in the enviroment affect reproduction.  The chemical odour that one sex releases (the female) to affect the physiology and behaviour of the opposite sex (the male) is called a sex pheromone.  We already have developed methods to study thousands of genes at one time in our model species, the goldfish. This method is called the DNA microarray and we use it to study brain function in both sexes. We should be able to determine how the brain responds to hormones and enviromental signals to cause or inhibit reproduction. Many graduate student trainees are involved and they learn state-of-the-art methods which will contribute to their career development as research scientists. This research is important because many of the neural systems and hormones found in fish are the same in other animals, including  humans.  What we find in fish will have implications for the understanding of reproduction in other animals. Some of the basic biology we discover may, in the long term, lead to new applications in fish aquaculture.