These results are the first evidence that the photoperiod to which the mother is exposed during gestation affects the postnatal gonadal development of the young and the pineal gland and melatonin play an important role in the transmission of photoperiodic information in the Mongolian gerbil. | Turk J Biol 31 (2007) 87-93 © TÜB‹TAK Maternal Transfer of Photoperiodic Information Regulates the Postnatal Reproductive System Development of the Mongolian Gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus) Alper KARAKAfi, Bülent GÜNDÜZ Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Abant ‹zzet Baysal University, 14280 Bolu - TURKEY Received: Abstract: We investigated whether photoperiodic information is transferred from mother to young and whether the pineal gland and its hormone, melatonin, are involved in this transfer in Mongolian gerbils. Adult female gerbils were paired with males and housed in photoperiods of 12L:12D or 8L:16D. Three groups of pregnant gerbils in each photoperiod were prepared: one group was the sham-operated control, one group consisted of pinealectomized gerbils, and one group consisted of pinealectomized gerbils that were treated with melatonin. Pinealectomy was performed before pairing the animals and melatonin injections were applied to the pinealectomized group from day 8 of gestation until parturition. On the day of parturition, the mother and young were transferred to an intermediate photoperiod (10L:14D). After weaning, body weight gain and gonadal development of the male young were measured every week over 8 weeks. Animals gestated and born to control and pinealectomized + melatonin injected mothers exposed to 12L:12D responded to 10L:14D as a short day; they had significantly (P ). These results are the first evidence that the photoperiod to which the mother is exposed during gestation affects the postnatal gonadal development of the young and the pineal gland and melatonin play an important role in the transmission of photoperiodic information in the Mongolian gerbil. Key Words: Maternal transfer, photoperiod, pineal gland, melatonin, Mongolian gerbil Mo¤olistan Gerbillerinde (Meriones unguiculatus) Fotoperiyodik Bilginin Maternal Transferi Postnatal Üreme Sistemi Geliflimini Düzenlemektedir Özet: Mo¤olistan gerbillerinde
