Aromatase activity in gonads of turtle embryos as a function of the incubation temperature of eggs.

In embryos of the European pond turtle, sexual differentiation of gonads is temperature-dependent. Production of oestrogens appears to play a key role in this phenomenon. Gonadal aromatase activity was measured in embryos incubated at 25 degrees C (masculinizing temperature) and at 30 degrees C (feminizing temperature). At the beginning of the thermosensitive period, the aromatase activity was low at both temperatures but was somewhat higher at 30 than at 25 degrees C. Afterwards, it remained low in differentiating testes at 25 degrees C, whereas it increased in differentiating ovaries at 30 degrees C to form a marked peak when germ cells underwent meiotic prophase. Eggs were shifted either from 25 to 30 degrees C (highly feminizing) or from 30 to 35 degrees C for 6 days at different stages of embryonic development. The 25-35 degrees C shifts performed during the thermosensitive period strongly increased the aromatase activity but were ineffective after this period. The 30-35 degrees C shifts increased the aromatase activity at all stages. Altogether, results indicate that, in differentiating gonads of turtle embryos, temperature acts on the regulation of synthesis (and therefore activity) of cytochrome P-450 aromatase (P-450-aro). The expression of the P-450-aro gene itself could be temperature-dependent. However, temperature could also act upon the expression of another gene involved in P-450-aro regulation.