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Biology of Reproduction, Vol 22, 185-191, Copyright © 1980 by Society for the Study of Reproduction

Development of Corpora Lutea and Plasma Progesterone Levels Associated with the Onset of the Breeding Season in White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

JOHN D. HARDER 1, and DARYL L. MOORHEAD 1

1 Department of Zoology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210


Histology of ovaries of mature white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) collected at 1 month intervals from August through October and at 1 week intervals in November 1976 revealed multiple luteal cycles and a sharp reduction in atresia of large follicles (diameter >3 mm) during the onset of the breeding season at Plum Brook Station, OH. Active corpora lutea were first observed in ovaries of does collected on 6 November; these were small (76 ± 15, x ± SEM) and associated with relatively low levels of circulating progesterone (0.61 ± 0.24 ng/ml plasma). Plasma progesterone levels were correlated (r = 0.79, P<0.05) with the total volume of active luteal tissue/doe and both increased throughout November, reaching maximum values of 4.2 ± 0.68 ng/ml and 347 ± 32 mm3, respectively. Both active and regressing corpora lutea were found in 79% of the ovaries of does collected on 20 November, just 2 weeks after the first corpora lutea of the season were observed. Apparently, the first ovulation produced only transient corpora lutea and was followed by a second ovulation in less than 15 days. These observations suggest that formation of small, short-lived corpora lutea was involved in the transition from seasonal anestrus to productive estrous cycles.

Note:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Special thanks go to Doug Andrews, Al Duncan, Ray Koch and Dick Winters for collecting deer and conducting the hunts. We thank Jack Rose for organizing autopsy teams and students and faculty who assisted him. We are grateful to Vern Stevens and John Powell for providing the progesterone antiserum and for valuable technical advice. We thank Patti Raley, John Karath and John Wukie for their technical assistance and Richard Heer for his support. This work was funded through the Development Fund and an Honors Fellowship, The Ohio State University.

Submitted on August 16, 1979
Accepted on October 26, 1979




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Copyright © 1980 by the Society for the Study of Reproduction.