REDR2002 Reproduction in Domestic Ruminants V Genes Controlling Reproductive Performance (4 abstracts)
Oocyte-derived growth factors and ovulation rate in sheep
KP McNatty 1 , JL Juengel 1 , T Wilson 2 , SM Galloway 2 , GH Davis 3 , NL Hudson 1 , CL Moeller 4 , M Cranfield 5 , KL Reader 1 , MPE Laitinen 6 , NP Groome 5 , HR Sawyer 4 & O Ritvos 6
1AgResearch, Wallaceville Animal Research Centre, PO Box 40063, Upper Hutt, New Zealand; 2AgResearch, Molecular Biology Unit, Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand; 3AgResearch, Invermay Agricultural Centre, Private Bag 50034, Mosgiel, Dunedin, New Zealand; 4Department of Biomedical Sciences, Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1683, USA; 5School of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gypsy Lane Campus, Headington, Oxford, UK; 6Programme for Developmental and Reproductive Biology, Biomedicum Helsinki and Department of Bacteriology and Immunology, Haartman Institute, 00014 University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
The physiological mechanisms controlling ovulation rate in mammals involve a complex exchange of endocrine signals between the pituitary gland and the ovary, and a localized exchange of intraovarian hormones between the oocyte and its adjacent somatic cells. The discoveries in sheep of mutations in bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15) and bone morphogenetic protein receptor type IB (BMPR-IB) together with recent findings on the physiological effects of growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) and BMP15 on follicular development and ovulation rate highlight some important differences in the way in which the oocyte may function in mammals with different ovulation rate phenotypes. In sheep, BMP15 and GDF9 have each been shown to be essential for the early and later stages of follicular development. In addition, ovulation rate is sensitive to changes in the dose of either of these two oocyte-derived growth factors. These findings are in contrast to those reported for mice in which CDF9, but not BMP15, is essential for follicular development. The evidence to date is consistent with the hypothesis that the oocyte plays a central role in regulating key events in the process of follicular development and hence, is important in determining ovulation rate. Moreover, it appears that the mechanisms that the oocyte uses to control these processes differ between species with low and high ovulation rate phenotypes.
© 2003 Society for Reproduction and Fertility
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