Fetal development, and placental and maternal plasma concentrations of progesterone in the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus)

Currie, W. B.; Blake, Martha; Wimsatt, William A.

doi:10.1530/jrf.0.0820401

Cited by 14 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…High progesterone concentrations in tree-dwelling N. noctula may reflect a need of a stronger physiological protection against embryo abortion due to the high impact of changing external conditions during gestation. Progesterone concentrations in M. lucifugus , which use buildings as summer maternity colony roosts [ 50 ], only reached up to 200 ng/ml during the later stages of gestation [ 32 , 33 ], and progesterone concentrations are even lower in the polyoestrous tropical Arafura large-footed bat Myotis moluccarum , Australian C. gouldii or South African populations of M. schreibersii [ 34 – 36 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In vespertilionids, concentration of progesterone has only been reported in females of six species, i.e. the Mexican free-tailed bat Tadarida brasiliensis [ 31 ], the common pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus [ 25 ], the little brown bat Myotis lucifugus [ 32 , 33 ], Gould’s wattled bat Chalinolobus gouldii [ 34 ], the Arafura large-footed bat Myotis mollucarum [ 35 ] and Schreiber’s long-fingered bat Miniopterus schreibersii [ 36 ]. Data acquisition for such studies is difficult as blood must be sampled invasively and the amount of material thus collected is small.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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One or two pups - optimal reproduction strategies of common noctule females

Zukalová¹,

Seidlová²,

Piaček³

et al. 2022

BMC Zool

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Background The success of animal reproduction is impacted by a trade-off between energetic costs and mortality associated with immediate vs. future reproductive attempts. The reproductive strategies of European insectivorous bats differ from common mammalian standards due to the use of delayed fertilisation. Phenology of bat reproduction, including length of pregnancy, which may vary in the same species at different latitudes, between years at the same site or between individuals within a colony, is influenced by ecological conditions. To assess factors influencing the course of pregnancy, we evaluated levels of blood progesterone in 20 female common noctule bats Nyctalus noctula. The bats were individually tagged and randomly divided into two groups with different hibernation ending points (i.e. a control group vs. a treatment group with one-week longer hibernation). Following emergence from hibernation, the bats were kept in a wooden box at a stable temperature of 22 °C. Results The majority of females gave birth to a single neonate (65%), but one female aborted her pups 2 days before the first successful births of other females. Based on development of progesterone concentration, we were able to define a number of different reproduction strategies, i.e. females with single offspring or twins, and females with supposed resorption of one embryo (embryonic mortality after implantation of the developing fertilised egg). Progesterone levels were much higher in females with two embryos during the first part of gestation and after birth. Progesterone levels were at their highest mid-gestation, with no difference between females carrying one or two foetuses. Length of gestation differed significantly between the two groups, with the longer hibernation (treatment) group having a roughly two-day shorter gestation period. Conclusions Female N. noctula are able to manipulate their litter size to balance immediate and future reproduction success. The estimated gestation length of approx. 49-days appears to be standard for N. noctula, with females optimising their thermoregulatory behaviour to keep the length of gestation as close to the standard as possible.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

One or two pups - optimal reproduction strategies of common noctule females

Zukalová¹,

Seidlová²,

Piaček³

et al. 2022

BMC Zool

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…High progesterone concentrations in tree-dwelling N. noctula may re ect a need of a stronger physiological protection against embryo abortion due to the high impact of changing external conditions during gestation. Progesterone concentrations in M. lucifugus, which use buildings as summer maternity colony roosts [50], only reached up to 200 ng/ml during the later stages of gestation [32,33], and progesterone concentrations are even lower in the polyoestrous tropical Arafura large-footed bat Myotis moluccarum, Australian C. gouldii or South African populations of M. schreibersii [34][35][36].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In vespertilionids, concentration of progesterone has only been reported in females of six species, i.e. the Mexican free-tailed bat Tadarida brasiliensis [31], the common pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus [25], the little brown bat Myotis lucifugus [32,33], Gould's wattled bat Chalinolobus gouldii [34], the northern largefooted myotis Myotis mollucarum [35] and Schreiber's long-ngered bat Miniopterus schreibersii [36]. Data acquisition for such studies is di cult as blood must be sampled invasively and the amount of material thus collected is small.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

One or Two Pups - Different Reproduction Strategies of Noctule Females

Zukalová¹,

Seidlová²,

Piaček³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background: The success of animal reproduction is impacted by a trade-off between energetic costs and mortality associated with immediate vs. future reproductive attempts. The reproductive strategies of European insectivorous bats differ from common mammalian standards due to the use of delayed fertilisation. Phenology of bat reproduction, including length of pregnancy, which may vary in the same species at different latitudes, between years at the same site or between individuals within a colony, is influenced by ecological conditions. To assess factors influencing the course of pregnancy we evaluated levels of blood progesterone in 20 female noctule bats Nyctalus noctula. The bats were individually tagged and randomly divided into two groups with different hibernation ending points (i.e. a control group vs. a treatment group with one week longer hibernation). Following emergence from hibernation, the bats were kept in a wooden box at a stable temperature of 22°C. Results: One female aborted her pups two days before the first successful births of other females, with the majority of females giving birth to a single neonate (65%). Based on development of progesterone concentration, we were able to define a number of different reproduction strategies, i.e. females with single offspring or twins, and females with supposed resorption of one embryo (embryonic mortality after implantation of the developing fertilised egg). Progesterone levels were much higher in females with two embryos during the first part of gestation and after birth. Progesterone levels were at their highest mid-gestation, with no difference between females carrying one or two foetuses. Length of gestation differed significantly between the two groups, with the longer hibernation (treatment) group having a roughly two-day shorter gestation period. Conclusions: Female N. noctula are able to manipulate their litter size to balance immediate and future reproduction success. The estimated gestation length of approx. 49-days appears to be standard for N. noctula, with females optimising their thermoregulatory behaviour to keep the length of gestation as close to the standard as possible.

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“…Chiropterans can modify their reproductive cycle through delayed ovulation, implantation or embryonal development, and during the latter two the activity of CL is reported to be reduced (Crichton et al 1989), which complicates determining the length of pregnancy and pregnant CL. Progesterone concentration peaks close to parturition in most species examined, such as in the big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus, Greville et al 2022), or in the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus, Currie et. al.…”

Section: Laurasiatheriamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Shifting Role and Regulation of the Corpus Luteum in Vertebrate Reproduction: A Synthetic Review

Basanta,

Pavlicev

2024

Preprint

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A hallmark of eutherian pregnancy is its dependency on elevated progesterone levels for its entire length. This fact substantially affected the evolution of pregnancy and even the life history of eutherians. Progesterone synthesis by the ovarian corpus luteum, however, long predates all origins of vertebrate viviparity, which requires reconsidering the role of the corpus luteum and progesterone before and beyond placental mammals. Pregnancy originated repeatedly by co-opting the ancestral luteal phase of the ovarian cycle. Therefore, it represents a physiological equivalent and “serial homolog” of the nonpregnant luteal phase. Because of this relationship, we argue that understanding the origin and evolution of pregnancy can substantially benefit from examining the evolution and regulation of the corpus luteum during nonpregnancy. In the first part of this paper, we investigate what is known about the evolution of the corpus luteum and its changing regulation and function across vertebrates, covering both pregnant and nonpregnant cycles wherever possible. Studying pregnancy in the context of the nonpregnant cycle reveals the key evolutionary innovation that facilitated the characteristically long eutherian pregnancies: the regulatory decoupling of the pregnant and nonpregnant cycle, that is, the evolution of maternal recognition of pregnancy. Only after the two cycles became separately modifiable, could gestation length increase without deleteriously extending the time to the next fertile phase. In this review, we argue that, assuming selection for body size increase, the origin of MRP led to a punctuated increase of gestation length, which could imply that we overestimate pregnancy length in the eutherian ancestor when using conventional phylogenetic inference methods. Mechanistically, decoupling between cycles means that the progesterone-dominated phase in pregnancy is extended beyond that of nonpregnancy. In eutherians, this is achieved by extending the lifespan of progesterone-producing corpus luteum, providing additional corpora lutea, extraovarian sources of progesterone, or a combination of these. Alternatively, it can also be accomplished by shortening the nonpregnant cycle. The differences in underlying mechanisms for decoupling among the major eutherian lineages suggest that they originated independently, which leads us to conclude that eutherian gestation consists of parts that are not homologous across eutherians. Consequently, eutherian gestation length is not a homologous trait that can be productively compared across species directly. Finally, we find no evidence for an increase in gestational length due to maternal-fetal conflict. Rather, as long appreciated, body size explains a major portion of the variation in gestation length in eutherians. This suggests that the increase in eutherian gestation length was driven by the need to accommodate an increasing body size, a well-documented trend (Cope’s rule), once independent evolution of pregnant and non-pregnant cycles became possible.

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Fetal development, and placental and maternal plasma concentrations of progesterone in the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus)

Cited by 14 publications

References 9 publications

One or two pups - optimal reproduction strategies of common noctule females

One or two pups - optimal reproduction strategies of common noctule females

One or Two Pups - Different Reproduction Strategies of Noctule Females

The Shifting Role and Regulation of the Corpus Luteum in Vertebrate Reproduction: A Synthetic Review

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