Divergent Seasonal Reproductive Patterns in Syntopic Populations of Two Murine Species in Southern Spain, Mus spretus and Apodemus sylvaticus.

ABSTRACT: In most mammals with seasonal reproduction, males undergo testis regression during the non-breeding period. We performed a morphological, hormonal, functional, and molecular study of the testes of sexually inactive males of two species of murine rodents, the wood mouse, Apodemus sylvaticus, and the Algerian mouse, Mus spretus, in syntopic populations of southern Iberian peninsula. Both species reproduce during most of the year, but wood mice stop breeding in the summer whereas Algerian mice do it in winter. Sexually inactive males of A. sylvaticus show complete testis regression with reduced levels of serum testosterone and abnormal distribution of cell-adhesion molecules. Contrarily, inactive males of M. spretus maintain almost normal spermotogenesis despite a significant reduction of and

SUBMITTER: Massoud D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7908971 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature