Steroid metabolism in the testes of the breeding and nonbreeding three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus |
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Authors: | B Borg W G Schoonen J G Lambert |
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Institution: | Department of Zoology, University of Stockholm, Sweden. |
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Abstract: | Steroid metabolism in the testes of sticklebacks was studied in vitro by tissue incubations with 3H]pregnenolone or 3H]androstenedione as precursors. In males in full reproductive condition (nesting), 3H]pregnenolone was mainly converted via progesterone and 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone into androstenedione, 11 beta-hydroxyandrostenedione, and 11-ketoandrostenedione. The latter was the largest product formed. The main products from the 3H]androstenedione incubation, 11 beta-hydroxyandrostenedione and 11-ketoandrostenedione, confirm these findings. The rate of androgen synthesis, especially of 11-ketoandrostenedione, was much lower after the end of the breeding season. |
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