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28 October 2013 Arginine Vasotocin (AVT) Triggers Courtship Behavior Without Exposure to External Stimuli and Modulates the Olfactory Response of Male Hynobius leechii Salamanders
Ja-Kyeong Kim, Il-Hun Kim, Jun-Haeng Heo, Jung-Hyun Lee, Nam-Yong Ra, Junho Eom, Su-Min Jeong, Heon-Joo Lee, Daesik Park
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Abstract

To study the function of arginine vasotocin (AVT) in a specific courtship behavior (body undulation) in male Hynobius leechii, we injected various doses of AVT or an AVT V1a or V2 receptor antagonist into breeding and non-breeding males. After these injections, we placed the males alone or with breeding females in Petri dishes and measured the incidence and frequency of body undulation. Additionally, to test whether AVT modulates the olfactory response of males, we exposed breeding males that were injected with AVT to female odors and measured the same response. Both breeding and non-breeding males intraperitoneally injected with 50 or 100 µg of AVT exhibited body undulation. Additionally, breeding males intraperitoneally injected with 50 or 100 µg of AVT exhibited an increased frequency of body undulation when exposed to female odors. The intraperitoneal injection of 5, 25, or 50 µg of the AVT V1a or V2 receptor antagonist did not significantly decrease the incidence or frequency of body undulation of 100 µg AVT-injected breeding males. However, in a post-hoc experiment, the breeding males that were subcutaneously injected with 100 µg of the AVT V1a receptor antagonist exhibited a significant decrease in the frequency of body undulation, induced by exposure to females. Additionally, a central injection of 1 µg of AVT into the brain induced body undulation in breeding males. Our results show that AVT not only induces a specific courtship behavior in male H. leechii via AVT V1a receptors but also modulates the olfactory response.

© 2013 Zoological Society of Japan
Ja-Kyeong Kim, Il-Hun Kim, Jun-Haeng Heo, Jung-Hyun Lee, Nam-Yong Ra, Junho Eom, Su-Min Jeong, Heon-Joo Lee, and Daesik Park "Arginine Vasotocin (AVT) Triggers Courtship Behavior Without Exposure to External Stimuli and Modulates the Olfactory Response of Male Hynobius leechii Salamanders," Zoological Science 30(11), 929-937, (28 October 2013). https://doi.org/10.2108/zsj.30.929
Received: 24 February 2013; Accepted: 14 June 2013; Published: 28 October 2013
KEYWORDS
arginine vasotocin
body undulation
courtship behavior
Hynobius
olfactory response
Salamander
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