Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T16:54:07.808Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The birth weight of rabbits born after heterospermic insemination

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2009

R. A. Beatty
R. A. Beatty
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Council Unit of Animal Genetics, Institute of Animal Genetics, Edinburgh, 9
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

1. Two rabbit sires were used for insemination of sixty-eight females. Insemination was either homospermic (one sire at a time) or heterospermic (mixed semen from the two sires). Each offspring could be traced to its sire by genetic marks. The sires differed in weight and were known to give offspring differing in mature weight and named Large and Small offspring. The object of study was the birth weight of these offspring in logarithmic transformation.

2. After heterospermic insemination, there was no evidence of any real ‘heterospermic vigour’ in the average birth weight of the litter as a whole.

3. After heterospermic insemination, the difference in birth weight between the two kinds of offspring was accentuated (enhancement effect). This confirms a previous experiment.

4. The enhancement effect is ascribed to competition among embryos. It is not attributable to postulated changes in the gestation period. It appears to arise from an increase in the birth weight of Large offspring, together with a possible decrease in the birth weight of Small offspring. These changes in birth weight are attributable to changes in prenatal growth rate.

5. The bearing of this work on Russian experiments with heterospermie insemination is discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Genetics Research , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , February 1960 , pp. 39 - 49
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1960

References

REFERENCES

Beatty, R. A. (1955). Res. Rep. 1952–54, Inst. Anim. Genet., Edinb., edit. Waddington, C. H., p. 25.Google Scholar
Beatty, R. A. (1956). Relation between genetic constitution of an offspring and weight of its litter-mates. Nature, Land., 178, 48–49.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beatty, R. A. (1957 a). A pilot experiment with heterospermic insemination in the rabbit. J. Genet. 55, 325–347.Google Scholar
Beatty, R. A. (1957 b). Chromosome constancy in the corneal epithelium of the mouse. Chromosoma, 8, 585–596.Google Scholar
Campbell, R. C. & Jaffe, W. P. (1958). The motility of mixed semen. J. agric. Sci. 50, 64–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donald, H. P. & Purser, A. F. (1956). Competition in utero between twin lambs. J. agric. Sci. 48, 245–249.Google Scholar
Fisher, R. A. & Yates, F. (1948). Statistical Tables. London and Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.Google Scholar
Kopec, S. (1923). On the offspring of rabbit-does mated with two sires simultaneously. J. Genet. 13, 371–381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kushner, K. F. (1954). (The effect of heterospermic insemination in animals and its biological nature.) Izvestia Akad. Nauk. SSSR, Ser. Biol., no. 1, p. 32. (As in private translation by D. Michie and A. McLaren.)Google Scholar
Sakai, K.-I. (1955). Competition in plants and its relation to selection. Cold Spr. Harb. Symp. quant. Biol. 20, 137–157.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Snedecor, G. W. (1956). Statistical Methods, 5th ed.Iowa State College Press.Google Scholar
Venge, O. (1950). Studies of the maternal influence on the birth weight in rabbits. Acta zool.Stockh., 31, 1–148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walton, A. (1945). Notes on the technique of artificial insemination. London: The Holborn Surgical Instrument Co. Ltd.Google Scholar