Effects of different doses of CuSo4 on the expression of vitellogenin in females Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

The present study investigates, the effects of sub lethal doses of CuSo4 on the expression of vitellogenin (Vtg) in females Zebrafish (Danio rerio). For this purpose, 180 Zebrafish with an average weight of 0.3±0.05 gr were exposed to two doses of 0.02 and 0.046 mg /l of CuSo4, and a control group for 30 days. At the end of experiment RNA extracted from liver, cDNA synthesized with Superscript RTase kit and PCR was done using primers relate to Vtg and Betaactin as housekeeping genes. The evaluation of Vtg expression genes showed reduction in CuSo4-treated groups compared to the control. In the CuSo4-treated groups (0.02 and 0.04 mg /l), Vtg gene expression was 0.66 and 0.59 fold of control which showed dose-dependent reduction pattern. Results indicated that CuSo4 can have a negative effect on the growth and development of sexual cells in zebra fish.