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Doklady Biological Sciences, Vol. 387, 2002, pp. 508–509. Translated from Doklady Akademii Nauk, Vol.

387, No. 5, 2002, pp. 697–698.


Original Russian Text Copyright © 2002 by Novikov, Tsapygina, Babalyan.

PHYSIOLOGY

The Period of the Sensitivity to the Pheromone Inhibiting


Spermatogenesis in Laboratory CBAB6F1 Mice
S. N. Novikov, R. I. Tsapygina†, and V. V. Babalyan
Presented by Academician A.D. Nozdrachev July 2, 2001

Received August 12, 2002

In 1979, Russian researchers were the first to pub- diakinesis–metaphase I. The experiments were con-
lish experimental data on a pheromone that inhibits ducted in autumn.
spermatogenesis in mice [1]. This pheromone is cur-
rently known to be a complex mixture of strongly and The figure shows that the frequency of the phero-
weakly polar volatile compounds [2] contained in urine mone-induced meiotic abnormalities increased only in
of sexually mature males [3]. In 30-day-old animals, 30-day-old males. The control and experimental vari-
this pheromone causes various meiotic abnormalities at ants did not differ significantly in sexually mature ani-
the stage of diakinesis–metaphase [4] to enhance the mals, i.e., in six- and eight-week-old males. This testi-
frequency of abnormal sperm cells in the caudal part of fies to a relative insensitivity of the mature recipient
the epididymis [5]. Animals of different genotypes reproductive system to the pheromone that causes vari-
differ in the sensitivity to this pheromone [6], which ous abnormalities of meiosis and spermatogenesis
causes a dramatically increased frequency of domi- [4, 5] in the generative cells of sexually immature ani-
nant lethals in the progeny of young male CBAB6F1 mals.
mice [7].
Thus, in the laboratory CBAB6F1 mice, we have
Here, we report a cytogenetic analysis of meiotic found a differential spermatocyte I ontogenetic sensi-
abnormalities observed during the pre- and postpuber- tivity to the genotoxic effect of the pheromone con-
tal periods in male laboratory CBAB6F1 mice aged 30, tained in the urine of sexually mature male
42, and 56 days. CBA/LacSto mice.
The experimental groups consisting of four to six
animals of the corresponding age were exposed to vol-
atile components of urine in an olfactometer with the Chromosome abnormalities, %
supply of the odorant in an air flow [2, 3, 5]. The time 12 *
of exposure was 2 h; Vb = 4 l/min; Vo = 1 l/min, where 1 2 3 4
Vb and Vo are the rates of the carrying and odorant flows, 10
respectively. The evaporation surface in the cuvette
containing urine was 5 cm2; t = 20°C. The urine was 8
freshly collected from five- to eight-month-old
CBA/LacSto males that were kept singly for two weeks 6 *
before the experiment. In control groups, the animals
were exposed to water in an olfactometer. Eight hours 4
from the start of exposure, the animals were decapi-
tated, their gonads were fixed, and the squash prepara- 2
tions of the seminiferous tubules were examined using
a modified Evens’ technique [4]. The cells with meiotic 0
abnormalities such as multivalent association (MA) and 30 42 56
univalent autosome (UA) were examined at the stage of Age of CBAB6F1 males, days

†Deceased. Meiotic abnormalities, including autosomal univalents


(AUs) and multivalent associations (MAs) in the generative
cells of CBAB6F1 males of different ages exposed to vola-
Pavlov Institute of Physiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, tile components of the urine of sexually mature CBA males:
nab. Makarova 6, St. Petersburg, 199034 Russia 1, AU (experiment); 2, AU (control); 3, MA (experiment);
St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, 4, MA (control). * Significant difference from the control
St. Petersburg, 199164 Russia (p < 0.05; the χ2 test).

0012-4966/02/1112-0508$27.00 © 2002 MAIK “Nauka /Interperiodica”


THE PERIOD OF THE SENSITIVITY 509

In general, the pheromone-induced neurophysiolog- hence, the efficient population size (NÂ) and serve as a
ical mechanisms responsible for the inhibition of sper- vector of natural selection.
matogenesis [5] and animal reproduction [7] have not
been studied sufficiently. According to the assumption
made in [8], the pheromone-caused inhibition of sper- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
matogenesis in mice is directly related to neither This work was supported in part by the State Pro-
adrenocortical activation nor a pronounced stress gram “Frontiers in Genetics” (project no. 2.152) and by
response of the recipient animals [9]. Although prolac- the FDS Charitable Trust (United Kingdom).
tin may also be involved in the regulation of this effect,
we assume that the pheromone effect on 30-day-old
animals leads to a selective inhibition of the gonadotro- REFERENCES
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DOKLADY BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES Vol. 387 2002

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