Plasma vitellogenin in free-ranging loggerhead sea turtles (caretta caretta) of the northwest atlantic ocean
Vitellogenin is the egg yolk precursor protein produced by oviparous vertebrates. As endogenous estrogen increases during early reproductive activity, hepatic production of vitellogenin is induced and is assumed to be complete in female sea turtles before the first nesting event. Until the present s...
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Online Access: | https://dsc.duq.edu/faculty/601 https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/748267 |
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ftduquesneuniddc:oai:dsc.duq.edu:faculty-1601 2023-05-15T16:36:23+02:00 Plasma vitellogenin in free-ranging loggerhead sea turtles (caretta caretta) of the northwest atlantic ocean Smelker, Kimberly Smith, Lauren Arendt, Michael Schwenter, Jeffrey Rostal, David Selcer, Kyle Valverde, Roldán 2014-01-01T08:00:00Z https://dsc.duq.edu/faculty/601 https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/748267 unknown Duquesne Scholarship Collection https://dsc.duq.edu/faculty/601 https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/748267 All Duquesne Faculty Scholarship text 2014 ftduquesneuniddc https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/748267 2023-03-05T07:00:18Z Vitellogenin is the egg yolk precursor protein produced by oviparous vertebrates. As endogenous estrogen increases during early reproductive activity, hepatic production of vitellogenin is induced and is assumed to be complete in female sea turtles before the first nesting event. Until the present study, innate production of vitellogenin has not been described in free-ranging sea turtles. Our study describes circulating concentrations of vitellogenin in loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) from the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. We collected blood samples from juveniles and adults via in-water captures off the coast of the Southeast USA from May to August, and from nesting females in June and July at Hutchinson Island, Florida. All samples were analyzed using an in-house ELISA developed specifically to measure Caretta caretta vitellogenin concentration. As expected, plasma vitellogenin declined in nesting turtles as the nesting season progressed, although it still remained relatively elevated at the end of the season. In addition, mean vitellogenin concentration in nesting turtles was 1,000 times greater than that measured in samples from in-water captures. Our results suggest that vitellogenesis may continue throughout the nesting season, albeit at a decreasing rate. Further, vitellogenin detected in turtles captured in-water may have resulted from exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals. Text Hutchinson Island Northwest Atlantic Duquesne Scholarship Collection Journal of Marine Biology 2014 1 10 |
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Duquesne Scholarship Collection |
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Vitellogenin is the egg yolk precursor protein produced by oviparous vertebrates. As endogenous estrogen increases during early reproductive activity, hepatic production of vitellogenin is induced and is assumed to be complete in female sea turtles before the first nesting event. Until the present study, innate production of vitellogenin has not been described in free-ranging sea turtles. Our study describes circulating concentrations of vitellogenin in loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) from the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. We collected blood samples from juveniles and adults via in-water captures off the coast of the Southeast USA from May to August, and from nesting females in June and July at Hutchinson Island, Florida. All samples were analyzed using an in-house ELISA developed specifically to measure Caretta caretta vitellogenin concentration. As expected, plasma vitellogenin declined in nesting turtles as the nesting season progressed, although it still remained relatively elevated at the end of the season. In addition, mean vitellogenin concentration in nesting turtles was 1,000 times greater than that measured in samples from in-water captures. Our results suggest that vitellogenesis may continue throughout the nesting season, albeit at a decreasing rate. Further, vitellogenin detected in turtles captured in-water may have resulted from exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals. |
format |
Text |
author |
Smelker, Kimberly Smith, Lauren Arendt, Michael Schwenter, Jeffrey Rostal, David Selcer, Kyle Valverde, Roldán |
spellingShingle |
Smelker, Kimberly Smith, Lauren Arendt, Michael Schwenter, Jeffrey Rostal, David Selcer, Kyle Valverde, Roldán Plasma vitellogenin in free-ranging loggerhead sea turtles (caretta caretta) of the northwest atlantic ocean |
author_facet |
Smelker, Kimberly Smith, Lauren Arendt, Michael Schwenter, Jeffrey Rostal, David Selcer, Kyle Valverde, Roldán |
author_sort |
Smelker, Kimberly |
title |
Plasma vitellogenin in free-ranging loggerhead sea turtles (caretta caretta) of the northwest atlantic ocean |
title_short |
Plasma vitellogenin in free-ranging loggerhead sea turtles (caretta caretta) of the northwest atlantic ocean |
title_full |
Plasma vitellogenin in free-ranging loggerhead sea turtles (caretta caretta) of the northwest atlantic ocean |
title_fullStr |
Plasma vitellogenin in free-ranging loggerhead sea turtles (caretta caretta) of the northwest atlantic ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Plasma vitellogenin in free-ranging loggerhead sea turtles (caretta caretta) of the northwest atlantic ocean |
title_sort |
plasma vitellogenin in free-ranging loggerhead sea turtles (caretta caretta) of the northwest atlantic ocean |
publisher |
Duquesne Scholarship Collection |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://dsc.duq.edu/faculty/601 https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/748267 |
genre |
Hutchinson Island Northwest Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Hutchinson Island Northwest Atlantic |
op_source |
All Duquesne Faculty Scholarship |
op_relation |
https://dsc.duq.edu/faculty/601 https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/748267 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/748267 |
container_title |
Journal of Marine Biology |
container_volume |
2014 |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
10 |
_version_ |
1766026713569951744 |