Wang Shuangye, Chen Junzhi, Zhao Yunlin, Zhang Meiwen, Zhang Chen, He Jianing, Wei Lichuan, Xu Zhenggang
College of Resources and Environment, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Management of Western Forest Bio-Disaster, College of Forestry, Northwest A & F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.
Front Plant Sci. 2023 Jun 9;14:1092792. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1092792. eCollection 2023.
The Yangtze vole () is a small herbivorous rodent that usually causes damage to crops and forests in China. Various measures were used to control their population including chemical rodenticides. However, rodenticides may cause secondary damage to the environment and the ecosystem. Therefore, the development of new rodent sterilants is urgent. Considering that some compounds of paper mulberry leaves have been verified that can inhibit the biosynthesis of sexual hormone, we aimed to explore the antifertility effect of paper mulberry leaves on .
In this study, voles were divided into three groups including a male group, a female group, and a breeding group, and paper mulberry leaves were added into basal fodder of voles maintained in laboratory, of which the proportion of leaf weight was 50%. In each group, voles were fed with mixed fodder as treatment (BP) and voles were fed with basal fodder as contrast (CK).
After feeding for more than 1 month, the results indicated that paper mulberry leaves attracted voles to feed, but inhibited their growth and reproduction. Since the second week, food intakes of BP have been significantly higher than CK (< 0.05). However, weights of voles in male and female groups were 72.283 ± 7.394 g and 49.717 ± 2.278 g in the fifth week, and both were significantly reduced compared with their original weight (< 0.05). Meanwhile, testicular volumes of male voles fed with BP were significantly smaller than CK (former: 318.000 ± 44.654 mm, latter: 459.339 ± 108.755 mm); the testosterone level, sperm number, and vitality of BP were obviously weaker than CK. Female uteruses and oophoron of BP grew slower, and the organ coefficients of uterus and oophoron fed BP were both significantly lower than CK (< 0.05). The first reproduction of BP couple voles spent 45 days, while CK spent only 21 days. These results suggest that paper mulberry leaves could be the potential resource to produce sterilants to control rodent populations by delaying their sexual growth and reproduction. If it was practical, the apparent advantages of paper mulberry are that it is an abundant resource and the inhibitory effect could be effective in both male and female individuals. Our conclusion also supports the transformation of rodent management from lethal management to fertility control, which would be more ecologically friendly to agriculture and the ecosystem.
长江流域田鼠是一种小型食草啮齿动物，在中国通常会对农作物和森林造成损害。人们采取了各种措施来控制它们的数量，包括使用化学灭鼠剂。然而，灭鼠剂可能会对环境和生态系统造成二次损害。因此，开发新型灭鼠绝育剂迫在眉睫。鉴于构树叶的某些化合物已被证实可抑制性激素的生物合成，我们旨在探索构树叶对长江流域田鼠的抗生育作用。
在本研究中，将田鼠分为雄性组、雌性组和繁殖组三组，并将构树叶添加到实验室饲养的田鼠的基础饲料中，构树叶重量占比为50%。每组中，给田鼠喂食混合饲料作为处理组（BP），给田鼠喂食基础饲料作为对照组（CK）。
喂食1个多月后，结果表明构树叶吸引田鼠进食，但抑制它们的生长和繁殖。从第二周起，BP组的食物摄入量显著高于CK组（P<0.05）。然而，雄性组和雌性组田鼠在第五周时体重分别为72.283±7.394克和49.717±2.278克，与初始体重相比均显著降低（P<0.05）。同时，喂食BP的雄性田鼠睾丸体积显著小于CK组（前者：318.000±44.654立方毫米，后者：459.339±108.755立方毫米）；BP组的睾酮水平、精子数量和活力明显弱于CK组。BP组雌性田鼠的子宫和卵巢生长较慢，喂食BP的子宫和卵巢器官系数均显著低于CK组（P<0.05）。BP组配对田鼠的首次繁殖用时45天，而CK组仅用时21天。这些结果表明，构树叶可能是生产绝育剂以控制田鼠数量的潜在资源，通过延迟它们的性发育和繁殖来实现。如果可行，构树的明显优势在于其资源丰富，且抑制作用对雄性和雌性个体均有效。我们的结论也支持将灭鼠管理从致死管理转变为生育控制，这对农业和生态系统将更加生态友好。
