Reproductive Physiology

Objective: To evaluate the teratogenic effect of mobile phone radiation exposure during pregnancy on embryonic skeletal development at the common used mobile phone frequency in our environment. Methods: Sixty female Sprague-Dawley rats were distributed into three experiment groups; control and two exposed groups (1 h/day, 2 h/day exposure groups) (n=20/ each group) and exposed to whole body radiation during gestation period from day 1- day 20. Electromagnetic radiofrequency signal generator was used to generate 1 800 MHz GSM-like signals at specific absorption rate value 0.974 W/kg. Animals were exposed during experiment in an especial designed Plexiglas box (60 cm × 40 cm × 30 cm). At the end of exposure duration at day 20 of pregnancy animals were sacrificed and foetuses were removed, washed with normal saline and processed to Alizarin red and Alcian blue stain. Skeleton specimens were examined under a stereo microscope and skeleton's snaps were being carefully captured by built in camera fixed on the stereo microscope. Results: Intrauterine exposure to electromagnetic radiation lead to variation in degree of ossification, mineralization, formation of certain parts of the skeleton majorly in head and lesser in other parts. Deformity and absence of formation of certain bones in the head, ribs, and coccygeal vertebrae were recorded in skeleton of foetuses from exposed dams compare to control group. Conclusions: The electromagnetic radiation exposure during pregnancy alter the processes of bone mineralization and the intensity of bone turnover processes, and thus impact embryonic skeleton formation and development directly.

<p>Key denotes vitrified-warmed (V-W) and fresh oocytes by black and white bars, respectively. Bars presented on the left represent data from IVF using frozen-thawed spermatozoa, and bars on the right represent data using fresh spermatozoa. Data are presented as means ± SEM. Different superscripts denote significant difference (P<0.05), where <sup>a-b</sup> denotes difference between frozen-thawed and fresh spermatozoa, and <sup>1–2, 3–4, 5–6, 7–8</sup> between laser-assisted IVF (LAIVF) and conventional IVF (Conv IVF).</p

A study was conducted to determine the cytogenetic profile of breeding rabbits and the impact of natural mating frequency and artificial insemination on its fertility status. Twenty four (post-pubertal) does aged 8-9 months and four matured (aged 10-12 months) fertile bucks of New Zealand white breed, were randomly assigned to four experimental groups (A, B, C, and D) in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Groups A to C had been subjected to a different level of daily mating of once a day (treatment A-the control), twice daily (treatment B) and thrice daily (treatment C) mating pattern. Animals of group D were subjected to artificial insemination. The experiment lasted for six months, during which two parities were obtained. The mean conception rate, kindling rate Original Research Article Ajuogu et al.; AJEA, 8(1): 54-60, 2015; Article no.AJEA.2015.146 55 and litter size showed significant differences (p<0.001) among experimental groups according to the increasing level of frequency of daily mating. A significant difference (p<0.05) was also observed on litter weight when decreasing the order of daily mating frequency. The frequency of daily mating had no influence (p>0.05) on gestation length. The X-chromatin incidence of does with zero conception and their males were within a normal range of 2-12% and 0-2%, respectively. It can be concluded that daily mating frequency has a favorable influence on reproductive parameters examined in this study.

glutamine, proline, cold storage, stallion, semen, anti-oxidant activity SP: seminal plasma MDA: malondyaldehyde CAT: catalase GPX: glutathione peroxidase Th is study examined the eff ects of skim-milk based extenders supplemented with proline and glutamine on motility, lipid peroxidation and enzymatic antioxidant status of cooled-stored equine sperm and determined the role of seminal plasma as well. Th e semen was collected with artifi cial vagina. In experiment 1, native semen was diluted in skim-milk based extender containing 5mM glutamine and 3mM proline, stored at 5°C and analyzed at 4, 24 and 48 hours storage for motion parameters. In experiment 2, semen was centrifugated, sperm pellet resuspended in the extenders and stored at 5°C for 4 hours to determine motion parameters. Th e level of catalase, glutathione peroxidase activity and malondialdehyde formation was determined for all samples at 4 hours. Glutamine and proline signifi cantly preserved the percentage of motile sperm (76.5 ± 2.7 and 79.4 ± 1 vs 69 ± 1.4), increased the progressive mo-tility of cold-stored semen (66.1 ± 2.5 and 73.7 ± 2.9 vs 56.2 ± 1.4), increased catalase activity, and decreased malondialdehyde. However these eff ects were disappeared after seminal plasma removal. We conclude that glutamine and proline would amplify the antioxidant activity of equine cold-stored semen and preserve its motility. Th is eff ect seems to be related to interactions with seminal plasma. b a

Among squamate reptiles, lizards exhibit an impressive array of sex-determining modes viz. genotypic sex determination, temperature-dependent sex determination, co-occurrence of both these and those that reproduce parthenogenetically. The oviparous lizard, Calotes versicolor, lacks heteromorphic sex chromosomes and there are no reports on homomorphic chromosomes. Earlier studies on this species presented little evidence to the sex-determining mechanism. Here we provide evidences for the potential role played by incubation temperature that has a significant effect (Po0.01) on gonadal sex and sex ratio. The eggs were incubated at 14 different incubation temperatures. Interestingly, 100% males were produced at low (25.570.51C) as well as high (3470.51C) incubation temperatures and 100% females were produced at low (23.570.51C) and high (31.570.51C) temperatures, clearly indicating the occurrence of TSD in this species. Sex ratios of individual clutches did not vary at any of the critical male-producing or female-producing temperatures within as well as across the seasons. However, clutch sex ratios were female-or male-biased at intermediate temperatures. Thermosensitive period occurred during the embryonic stages 30–33. Three pivotal temperatures operate producing 1:1 sex ratio. Histology of gonad and accessory reproductive structures provide additional evidence for TSD. The sex-determining pattern, observed for the first time in this species, that neither compares to Pattern I [Ia (MF) and Ib (FM)] nor to Pattern II (FMF), is being referred to as FMFM pattern of TSD. This novel FMFM pattern of sex ratio exhibited by C. versicolor may have an adaptive significance in maintaining sex ratio. How to cite this article: Inamdar (Doddamani) LS, Vani V, Seshagiri PB. 2012. A tropical oviparous lizard, calotes versicolor, exhibiting a potentially novel fmfm pattern of temperature-dependent sex determination. J. Exp. Zool. 317:32–46. In vertebrates, the offspring sex is known to be influenced by a surprising variety of sex-determining mechanisms (SDMs). Among these, the two major modes are genotypic sex determination (GSD) and environmental sex determination