Biol Reprod Keystone Symposia Conference on Frontiers in Reproductive Biology & Regulation of Fertility.
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BOR - Papers in Press, published online ahead of print October 23, 2002.
Biol Reprod 2002, 10.1095/biolreprod.102.005934
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BIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION 68, 929–936 (2003)
DOI: 10.1095/biolreprod.102.005934
© 2003 by the Society for the Study of Reproduction, Inc.

Pregnancy

Maternal Regulation of Milk Composition, Milk Production, and Pouch Young Development During Lactation in the Tammar Wallaby (Macropus eugenii )1

Josephine F. Trott3,5,a,b, Kaylene J. Simpson4,5,a, Richard L.C. Moyleb, Cyrma M. Hearnb, Geoffrey Shawb, Kevin R. Nicholas2,a,b, and Marilyn B. Renfreeb

a Division of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Victorian Institute of Animal Science, Attwood, Victoria 3049, Australia b Department of Zoology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia

Specific changes in milk composition during lactation in the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii) were correlated with the ages of the developing pouch young (PY). The present experiment was designed to test the hypothesis that the sucking pattern of the PY determines the course of mammary development in the tammar wallaby. To test this hypothesis, groups of 60-day-old PY were fostered repeatedly onto one group of host mothers so that a constant sucking stimulus on the mammary gland was maintained for 56 days to allow the lactational stage to progress 42 days ahead of the age of the young. Analysis of the milk in fostered and control groups showed the timing of changes in the concentration of protein and carbohydrate were essentially unaffected by altering the sucking regime. The only change in milk protein secretion was a small delay in the timing of down-regulation of the secretion of whey acidic protein and early lactation protein in the host tammars. In addition, the rates of growth and development of the foster PY were significantly increased relative to those of the control PY because of ingesting more milk with a higher energy content and different composition than normal for their age. The present study demonstrates that the lactating tammar wallaby regulates both milk composition and the rate of milk production and that these determine the rates of PY growth and development, irrespective of the age of the PY.

1 Supported by grants from the Australian Research Council to M.B.R. and G.S.

2 Correspondence. FAX: 61 3 8344 7909; e-mail: k.nicholas{at}zoology.unimelb.edu.au

3 Current address: Basic Research Laboratory, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892

4 Current address: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia

5 Both authors contributed equally to the research






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Copyright © 2003 by the Society for the Study of Reproduction.