Stereological study of changes of testicular tissue in Egyptian Fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) throughout the year

Subject Areas : Developmental biology of plants and animals , development and differentiation in microorganisms

Farangis Ghassemi ¹ , Esmat Abas Fard ²

1 - شیراز بلوار پاسداران خیابان باغ حوض کوچه 5/3 پلاک 71
2 - Biology Department, Education, Fasa, Iran

Received: 2018-07-02 Accepted : 2019-06-10 Published : 2019-08-23

Keywords: Germ cells, Seminiferous tubule, Stereological study, Egyptian Fruit bat,

Abstract :

Due to importance of bats in ecosystem and the limited information about reproduction of this useful organism, the spermatogenesis of the Egyptian Fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) was studied stereologically in three seasons, spring to autumn, as the first record. For this purpose, 7 male bats were captured by mistnet in Sangtārashan Cave (Fars- Jahrom ), and transferred to the laboratory at the end of every season. After anesthetization and dissection of bats, their testicles were removed and fixed after measuring. The sections (5μm) were prepared from fixed samples and stained. The volume of studied parameters was determined by using Cavallier method, and seminiferous diameters and testicular cells number were measured with stereo Lite software. Obtained data were analyzed by Kruskal–Wallis, and compared by Friedman test. According to obtained results, the testicles were in the scrotum out of the body with significant difference of weight and volume in the left and right testis, and the maximum weight (0.7650± 0.19g) and volume (862± 0.41 mm3) were in spring. The germ cells and many sperm were observed in the lumens in all seasons. The diameter of seminiferous tubule were different (P<0.05) between spring (235/90±1.06 µm) and autumn (227.82±1.29 µm) were observed. Maximum mean number of spermatocyt (294.6×106), sertoli (11.59×106) and lydig (39.30×106) were estimated in spring and the lowest of them in autumn, but the maximum number of spermatid (284.2 ×106) were in autumn. According to these results, the peak of sexual activity of this bat species is in spring and summer.