Ovarian follicles form through a process in which somatic pregranulosa cells encapsulate individual germ cells from germ cell syncytia. Complementary expression of the Notch ligand, Jagged1, in germ cells and the Notch receptor, Notch2, in pregranulosa cells suggests a role for Notch signaling in mediating cellular interactions during follicle assembly. Using a Notch reporter mouse, we demonstr...

We reared juvenile Oncorhychus mykiss with low and high standard metabolic rates (SMR) under alternative thermal regimes to determine how these proximate factors influence life histories in a partially migratory salmonid fish. High SMR significantly decreased rates of freshwatermaturation and increased rates of smoltification in females, but notmales, after 1 year of rearing. Warmer water tempe...

In enclosure experiments in the littoral zone of Lake Constance, Germany, juvenile cyprinids showed significantly reduced somatic growth in the shallow eulittoral zone (0 5 m depth) compared to the sublittoral zone (1 6 m depth). Growth was especially reduced in larger and more deep-bodied fish groups, providing evidence that this is due to increased hydrodynamic stress, induced by ship and win...

We examined somatic growth, somatosensory reflexes, and ultrasonic calls from postnatal day 3 to day 18 in Mecp2 mutant mice, a mouse model of Rett syndrome. Both Mecp2 null male and Mecp2 heterozygous female mice exhibited normal somatic growth, but transient delays in the development of some reflexes relative to sex-matched wild-type mice. Both Mecp2 null male and heterozygous female mice exh...

Rostral septal lesions accelerate somatic growth in adult hamsters. This study tested the hypothesis that this effect results from damage to fibers of passage by observing the effects of transections of septohippocampal and septohypothalamic connections on growth. We attempted to identify these fibers further by (a) measuring spectrofluorometrically changes in the monoamine concentrations in hi...

Overexpression of the retinoblastoma gene (Rb) in mice leads to the dwarf phenotype. To explore the potential mechanism of Rb effects on the somatic growth, bitransgenic mice with tetracycline-regulated Rb expression were generated, and their phenotypes were compared with those of previously established Rb mouse models. By gestational day 12.5, embryos lacking Rb and those expressing twice the ...

BROWNE, S. A. H. AND K. T. BORER. Basis for the exercise-induced hyperphagia in adult hamsters. PHYSIOL. BEHAV. 20(5) 553-557, 1978.In adult female golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus, Waterhouse) voluntary exercise is associated with increased food intake and accelerated somatic growth. We examined the possible interdependence between increased food intake and accelerated somatic growth by m...