U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service, Lincoln, Nebraska
Date of this Version
2006
Abstract
The objectives of this study were to identify and quantitate the germ cell populations of the testes in sexually mature male turkeys (Trial 1), determine the duration of meiosis based on BrdU labeling and stereological analyses (Trial 2), and examine the impact of various photoperiods on germinal and somatic cell populations in immature and adult males (Trial 3). In Trial 1, both testes within a male had similar stereological components (P > 0.05) for all parameters analyzed. In Trial 2, the duration of Type-1 spermatocytes and round spermatids in turkeys lasted 4.5 ± 0.5 and 2.0 ± 0.5 days, respectively. In Trial 3, the short photoperiod (7L:17D) delayed testicular growth (in the stereological parameters analyzed). In contrast, the effect of a moderately short photoperiod (10.5L:13.5D) was comparable to the effect of a long (14L:10D) or increasing photoperiod (7L:17D to 14L:10D) on the stereological parameters examined. With the exception of the short photoperiod, all other photoperiods used in this study induced comparable early testicular maturation, with maximum testis
Comments
Published in Theriogenology 65 (2006) 845–859 doi:10.1016/j.theriogenology.2005.01.012