Oocyte maturation in Clarias batrachus: in vitro effect of various gonadotropins and homologous pituitary homogenate.

The effects of five different gonadotropins and homologous pituitary homogenate (HP) on germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) were investigated in vitro using folliculated oocytes of Clarias batrachus. Among all the gonadotropins, salmon gonadotropin (SG-G100) was the most potent in vitro inducer of oocyte maturation. At concentrations of 1, 0.1, 0.01 and 0.001 microgram/ml it induced 86.98 +/- 2.71, 68.74 +/- 2.85, 44.56 +/- 1.75 and 25.90 +/- 2.36% GVBD. Next to SG-G100 in inducing GVBD was luteinizing hormone (LH) which was consistently found to be effective at all the concentrations used. Human chorionic gonadotropin was also found to be effective at all the concentrations but when compared to SG-G100 and LH, it was less effective. Follicle stimulating hormone and pregnant mare serum gonadotropin were found to be effective at higher concentrations but were ineffective at the lowest concentration. HP treatment resulted in a significant number of GVBD at all the three concentrations used.