Sea Secrets Lecture: Berta Levavi-Sivan, PhD

Berta Levavi Sivan, Ph.D.

Vice Rector and Professor at the Department of Animal Sciences, The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

From Genes to Aquaculture

One of the most important worldwide goals is the development of environmentally responsible aquaculture that will provide the growing demand for quality fish. Aquaculture production of finfish has seen rapid growth in production volume and economic yield over the last decades – paralleling the increase in world population and demands. Modern intensive fish aquaculture comprises all life stages of the fish from development of gonads, puberty, spawning, and brood stock management to fully grown adults. This life cycle of fish is driven by specific hormones along a cascade that leads to maturation, ovulation and spawning.

Dr. Levavi-Sivan was involved in the discovery of several fundamental neuropeptides that occur at different stages of fish reproduction. She developed a successful agent to induce spawning in cypr-inid based on recombinant carp pituitary hormones. Recombinant gonadotropins were developed also for other important fish species like tilapia, medaka, zebrafish, sturgeon and the basal verte-brate lamprey. Using transgenic fish, Levani-Sivan studies the organization of specific cells in the fish pituitary. She has a B.Sc. degree in life science, M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in zoology from Tel Aviv University. She specializes in aquaculture, focusing on basic and applied aspects of fish reproduc-tive physiology and endocrinology, and understanding how the fish brain regulates a cascade of hormones that control reproduction, growth and metabolism.

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