The Imitation of the Ovarian Fatty Acid Profile of Superfertile Dummerstorf Mouse Lines during IVM of Control Line Oocytes Could Influence Their Maturation Rates.

Declining human fertility worldwide is an attractive research target for the search for "high fertility" genes and pathways to counteract this problem. To study these genes and pathways for high fertility, the superfertile Dummerstorf mouse lines FL1 and FL2 are two unique model organisms representing an improved fertility phenotype. A direct reason for this remarkable characteristic of increased litter size, which reaches >20 pups/litter in both FLs, is the raised ovulation rate by approximately 100%, representing an impressive record in this field.

Lower Plasmatic Levels of Saturated Fatty Acids and a Characteristic Fatty Acid Composition in the Ovary Could Contribute to the High-Fertility Phenotype in Dummerstorf Superfertile Mice.

In recent decades, fertility traits in humans as well as in farm animals have decreased worldwide. As such, it is imperative to know more about the genetics and physiology of increased or high fertility. However, most of the current animal models with reproductive phenotypes describe lower fertility or even infertility (around 99%).

Higher quality rather than superior quantity of oocytes determine the amount of fertilizable oocytes in two outbred Dummerstorf high-fertility mouse lines.

Dummerstorf fertility lines FL1 and FL2 represent two models of enhanced fertility characterized by the doubling of the litter size compared with an unselected control population (ctrl line, Dummerstorf FztDU). Both biodiverse FLs managed to reach this goal by increasing the ovulation rate per cycle, even showing decreased pregnancy rate and irregular oestrous cycle and metabolic hormone levels, compared with ctrl. The aim of the present study was to analyse oocytes in terms of quality and quantity by comparing the entire pool of oocytes per ovary, with those from the antral follicles within the same animal.

Altered insulin, leptin and ghrelin hormone levels and atypical estrous cycle lengths in two highly fertile mouse lines.

Mouse models of decreased fertility mainly support scientific knowledge in the field of reproductive biology. In this study, we changed the perspective, using Dummerstorf high-fertility mouse lines FL1 and FL2 selected for increased reproductive performances that doubled the amount of ovulated oocytes per cycle and the number of offspring per litter compared to an unselected control line (founder population, FZTDU, ctrl). After recent observations, both fertility lines seem to show a lower pregnancy rate compared to ctrl together with an atypical reproductive cycle.