SEA BASS (DICENTRARCHUS-LABRAX L) VITELLOGENIN .1. INDUCTION, PURIFICATION AND PARTIAL CHARACTERIZATION

In sea bass (males and non-vitellogenic females) estradiol (E(2)) trea tment caused the appearance in the bloodstream of a new protein that w as identified as the vitellogenin (VTG) molecule for this teleost spec ies. The molecular weight of the sea bass VTG (445 kDa) and its amino acid composition was similar to that of other teleosts. VTG was purifi ed by double-step chromatography and then used to obtain specific anti bodies. The localization of VTG in the liver and in the ovary was carr ied out by immunocytochemistry. The effects of the E(2) treatment on t he synthetic activity of the liver were studied throughout the modific ations observed at the histological and biochemical levels.