AI Article Synopsis
- The study looked at how milk composition changes in tammar wallabies during lactation based on the age of the pouch young (PY).
- Researchers tested if the sucking patterns of the PY influenced milk production by fostering 60-day-old PY with host mothers for 56 days, leading to milk composition changes.
- Results showed that while milk composition remained mostly unchanged, the growth of the foster PY improved due to consuming higher energy milk, indicating that lactating wallabies control milk production and composition based on the needs of their young, not just their age.
Article Abstract
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.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1095/biolreprod.102.005934 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Article Synopsis
- - Bisphenol-A (BPA), a common chemical in plastics, negatively impacts fertility, but its specific effects on early ovarian development in mammals, particularly marsupials like the tammar wallaby, are not well understood.
- - The study observed key ovarian development markers at specific intervals from birth to 10 days post-partum, revealing that ovarian differentiation begins around days 2-4, with significant changes in gene expression and protein localization.
- - BPA exposure during the critical early days of development suppressed normal ovarian differentiation, inhibiting the formation of ovarian structures and reducing the expression of important differentiation genes at day 10 post-partum.
Inhibiting p38α and -β MAPK Affects Testis Development in the Marsupial Tammar Wallaby.
Sex Dev
October 2024
School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Article Synopsis
- The MAPK genes are important for gonadal differentiation in eutherian mammals, and this study investigates their role in marsupials, specifically the tammar wallaby.
- The researchers used a MAPK inhibitor, SB202190, to study its effects on gonads and found it reduced levels of key genes SOX9 and AMH in XY gonads.
- The study concludes that the MAPK pathway is involved in testis differentiation in marsupials, similar to its role in eutherian mammals.
The extension of mammalian pregnancy required taming inflammation: Independent evolution of extended placentation in the tammar wallaby.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
October 2024
Department of Biological Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia.
Article Synopsis
- The first mammals that gave birth to live young had short pregnancies that involved some inflammation between the mother and the baby.
- Many marsupials, like kangaroos and wallabies, still keep this short pregnancy style, but their way of handling inflammation is different from other mammals called eutherians.
- In wallabies, they don't show a strong inflammatory reaction at the start of pregnancy, allowing them to have a longer gestation process compared to other marsupials.
PRKACB is a novel imprinted gene in marsupials.
Epigenetics Chromatin
September 2024
School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia.
Article Synopsis
- The study talks about a special way some genes work differently depending on whether they come from the mom or dad, called genomic imprinting, which is found in certain mammals like koalas and other marsupials.
- Researchers found a specific area in the gene PRKACB that showed this imprinting by checking how a special chemical called methylation was added to it.
- They discovered that in two types of marsupials, the gene from the mom was modified differently than from the dad, showing that PRKACB is a new gene that behaves this way in marsupials, which might be important for its function in these animals.
Imprinted X chromosome inactivation in marsupials: The paternal X arrives at the egg with a silent DNA methylation profile.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
September 2024
School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
Article Synopsis
- X chromosome inactivation (XCI) is an epigenetic phenomenon where one X chromosome in females is silenced, differing between eutherian (random silencing) and marsupial mammals (always paternal silencing).
- In eutherians, the inactive X shows high DNA methylation at key sites, while marsupials have lower methylation levels on the paternal X.
- The study focused on the tammar wallaby's X chromosome during sperm development, finding that the paternal X has a DNA methylation profile similar to the inactive X in female tissues, suggesting it may serve as an imprint for paternal XCI in marsupials.
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!