Postnatal Testicular Development in 3 Inbred Strains of Mice.

A large amount of genetic variability exists in the size and functional characteristics of male gonads between strains of inbred mice (Shire and Bartke, 1972; Hayward, 1973: Eleftheriou and Lucas, 1974). Shire and Bartke noted marked variations in both the absolute and relative postnatal testicular weights in 11 strains from 56 to 112 days of age. The relative weight (mg of testes/100g of body weight) increased for most strains. The DBA/2J strain increased by 123mg, the C57BL/6J by 84mg and the AKR/J strain by only 45mg. The C57BL/10J strain however was unique in that it showed a decrease of 235mg during this period. The absolute weight of the testes also fell with increasing age in the C57BL/10J mice from a mean of 145mg at day 56 to a mean of 112mg at day 112. In contrast the mean testicular weight of the DBA/2 strain rose from 188mg at day 56 to 236mg at day 112. Comparison of mice from the two extreme strains (DBA/2J and C57BL/10J), raised in three different environments showed that the weight differences between these strains were unaffected by environmental variation, suggesting a genetic basis for the differences.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Year

1979

Author dc:creator

• Wilters, John Howard

• Environmental variation
• Postnatal testicular development
• Genetic variability
• Inbred strains

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/7136

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.library.uab.edu:etd-collection-8128