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The presence of the female-specific yolk protein precursor vitellogenin in blood and liver from male fish is widely used as an indicator of endocrine disruption. We studied the induction of vitellogenin mRNA in liver from several species of fish, both maintained in fish tanks or captured in the wild. Our procedure requires minute amounts of liver samples (down to 50 mg), and can be applied to field samples if the appropriate RNA-stabilisation agent is used. We used reverse-transcriptase PCR and quantitative real-time PCR for detection and precise quantitation of vitellogenin mRNA levels. Male mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus) exposed to 17β-estradiol contained levels of vitellogenin mRNA up to 30 times higher than in untreated females and treatment with nonylphenol resulted in a weak but consistent induction of this transcript. We also studied levels of vitellogenin mRNA in a population of common carp …