자웅이체형 어류의 성결정 및 성분화는 일반적으로 각 개체의 유전형을 따른다. 자연환경에서는 자신이 가진 유전정보의 조절에 따라 성분화 시기에 아로마테이즈 유전자의 발현이 증가하거나 감소하고, 그 결과 스테로이드 호르몬들의 조성이 결정되어 각기 다른 방향으로 성분화하는 것으로 알려져 있다. 본 연구에서는 해산 태생 어류인 조피볼락(Sebasts schlegeli)의 ovarian type aromatase (P450aromA)와 brain type aro

Sex determination and sex differentiation are influenced by genotype in many gonochoristic fish. Cytochrome P450 aromatase (CYP19) is the terminal enzyme in steridogenic pathway that converts androgens into estrogens. In this study, partial fragments of aromatase genes (ovarian aromatase, P450aromA and brain aromatase, P450aromB) were cloned and sequenced in Korean rockfish (Sebastes schlegeli), and gene specific primers were designed based on their sequences. Using these primers, aromatase gene expression during sex differentiation was investigated by RT-PCR. Expression of these aromatase genes were detected both in the head and body parts at 35 dab (days after birth). The number of fish that expressed the aromatase genes decreased at 52 dab, implying down-regulation of these genes. However, these genes were expressed at 59 dab in almost all fish studied here. The expression patterns of both genes are similar throughout the investigated period except for 45 dab where the expression of P450aromB was detected in more fish than that of P450aromA both in the head and body parts. Timing of sex differentiation in this species has been shown to be at around dab by histological analysis. However, the results from this study suggest that sex differentiation of rockfish may take place weeks earlier than the period proposed previously. The results also suggest that the mechanism of sex differentiation in viviparous fish may be similar to that in oviparous fish in terms of the importance of aromatase action during the critical period.

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