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Updated: Feb 12, 2026

Handling and Treatment of Male European Eels Anguilla anguilla for Hormonal Maturation and Sperm Cryopreservation
Published on: January 28, 2018
Characterization of a β2 adrenergic receptor protein precursor in the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) and its tissue
Silvia Franzellitti1, Alisar Kiwan1, Paola Valbonesi1
1Animal and Environmental Physiology Laboratory, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Via S. Alberto 163, I-48123, Ravenna, Italy.
Abstract:
This study provides the characterization and tissue distribution of a β2-AR in the female European eel during silvering, aiming to better understand the adrenergic system involvement in this critical maturation event. A putative β2-AR (ADRB2) mRNA was cloned and sequenced. Amino acid residues and motifs important for ligand binding are generally conserved across fish and between fish and mammals, although the occurrence of some sequence variabilities may explain the noted peculiarities of eel AR interaction with pharmacological ligands. The tissue distribution of the ADRB2 gene product was analyzed in five tissues of the eel at different silvering stages and compared with that of the ADRA1 mRNA encoding an α1-AR subtype. On the whole, data suggested that relative ADRA1/ADRB2 tissue expression across silvering is part of the preparatory (molecular) adjustments required to face changes in habitats and migration efforts.
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