Hu Shenqiang, Song Yang, Zhu Jiaran, Wang Zhujun, Li Xiaopeng, He Xiaoyong, Li Guibi, Hu Jiwei, Liu Hehe, Li Liang, Wang Jiwen
State Key Laboratory of Swine and Poultry Breeding Industry, College of Animal Science and Technology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan 611130, PR China; Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Multi-omics, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Animal Science and Technology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan 611130, PR China; Farm Animal Genetic Resources Exploration and Innovation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan 611130, PR China; Key Laboratory of Agricultural Bioinformatics, Ministry of Education, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan 611130, PR China.
State Key Laboratory of Swine and Poultry Breeding Industry, College of Animal Science and Technology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan 611130, PR China; Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Multi-omics, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Animal Science and Technology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan 611130, PR China; Farm Animal Genetic Resources Exploration and Innovation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan 611130, PR China; Key Laboratory of Agricultural Bioinformatics, Ministry of Education, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan 611130, PR China.
Poult Sci. 2025 Apr;104(4):104931. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2025.104931. Epub 2025 Feb 20.
The reproductive and economic performance of male poultry depends on the testicular development and semen quality. However, most previous studies on male duck reproduction have focused on environmental impacts or developmental dynamics within a single breed, so the mechanisms of duck testicular development remain poorly understood. In this study, by taking a total of 240 males from 3 different lines (GF, BGF, and MC) of Tianfu Nonghua duck during the first 24 post-hatch weeks as the experimental objects, we comprehensively analyzed the age-dependent variations in the testicular histomorphological characteristics, serum testosterone (T) contents, and hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular (HPT) axis-related genes expression profiles, aiming to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying these observed variations. The histomorphological results showed that the testes of all duck lines developed in an age- and genetic line-dependent manner. Compared to MC and BGF, GF exhibited significantly higher bilateral testicular organ index (BTOI) (P < 0.05), which significantly increased since week 8 (P < 0.05). Also, the duck testicular parenchymal-to-interstitial area ratio, the thickness of seminiferous epithelium, and the number of germ cells increased remarkably with age, while the primary spermatocytes (PSC) appeared earlier in GF than in MC and BGF. A small number of spermatozoa were only observed in the testes of GF at week 24. Serum T levels of all duck lines exhibited similar developmental patterns of increasing early and decreasing later, reaching the highest during the period from week 8 to 16. However, there observed significantly lower serum T levels in BGF than in GF since week 8 (P < 0.05). In the hypothalamus, GnRH-Ⅰ expression was significantly higher in GF than in MC and BGF at week 24 (P < 0.05), while GnIH expression was significantly higher in GF at week 0 (P < 0.05). The pituitary LHβ expression in GF was significantly higher at weeks 4 and 8, while the testicular CYP17A1 expression in BGF was significantly higher at weeks 4, 8, and 24 (P < 0.05). Moreover, the testicular CYP17A1 expression was positively correlated with serum T levels (P < 0.05), and both the hypothalamic GnRH-Ⅰ and pituitary FSHβ expression showed significant positive correlations with the BTOI (P < 0.01). In conclusion, the testes of GF developed more rapidly than those of MC and BGF. These developmental variations were attributed to consistently higher serum T levels in GF, which were strongly positively associated with the age-dependent testicular CYP17A1 expression profiles.
雄性家禽的繁殖性能和经济性能取决于睾丸发育和精液质量。然而，以往大多数关于雄性鸭繁殖的研究都集中在环境影响或单一品种内的发育动态上，因此鸭睾丸发育的机制仍知之甚少。在本研究中，选取天府农华鸭3个不同品系（GF、BGF和MC）的240只雄性鸭在出壳后的前24周作为实验对象，全面分析了睾丸组织形态学特征、血清睾酮（T）含量以及下丘脑-垂体-睾丸（HPT）轴相关基因表达谱随年龄的变化，旨在揭示这些观察到的变化背后的分子机制。组织形态学结果表明，所有鸭品系的睾丸发育均呈现出年龄和品系依赖性。与MC和BGF相比，GF的双侧睾丸器官指数（BTOI）显著更高（P < 0.05），自第8周起显著增加（P < 0.05）。此外，鸭睾丸实质与间质面积比、生精上皮厚度和生殖细胞数量随年龄显著增加，而GF中初级精母细胞（PSC）出现的时间早于MC和BGF。在第24周时，仅在GF的睾丸中观察到少量精子。所有鸭品系的血清T水平均呈现出早期升高、后期降低的相似发育模式，在第8至16周期间达到最高。然而，自第8周起，BGF的血清T水平显著低于GF（P < 0.05）。在24周时，下丘脑GnRH-Ⅰ的表达在GF中显著高于MC和BGF（P < 0.05），而在第0周时，GnIH的表达在GF中显著更高（P < 0.05）。GF中垂体LHβ的表达在第4周和第8周时显著更高，而BGF中睾丸CYP17A1的表达在第4周、第8周和第24周时显著更高（P < 0.05）。此外，睾丸CYP17A1的表达与血清T水平呈正相关（P < 0.05），下丘脑GnRH-Ⅰ和垂体FSHβ的表达均与BTOI呈显著正相关（P < 0.01）。总之，GF的睾丸发育比MC和BGF更快。这些发育差异归因于GF中血清T水平持续较高，这与年龄依赖性睾丸CYP17A1表达谱密切正相关。
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