Two β-cats were identified from Nile tilapia, their cellular localization was confirmed in teleosts ovary.
Fish β-cat1 activates the TOPFlash reporter, whereas β-cat2 does not.
Inhibition of the canonical Wnt/β-cat signal pathway cause the female gonad masculinization.
Two β-cats probably play synergistic roles in ovarian differentiation and repression male pathway gene expression in tilapia.