Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of unilateral ovariectomy on recruitment and growth of follicles in the rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss

  • Published:
Fish Physiology and Biochemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Virgin female rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, were unilaterally ovariectomised at various stages of ovarian development to investigate the effect of the removal of one ovary on subsequent recruitment and growth of follicles in the remaining ovary. The right ovary was removed from groups of 12–15 fish, 12, 7 and 4 months before they were due to ovulate, and the gonadosomatic index and follicle number and size determined just prior to ovulation. There were no differences in fecundity or follicle size in fish unilaterally ovariectomised at 12 and 7 months prior to ovulation compared to the controls. However, in the females unilaterally ovariectomised 4 months prior to ovulation, the remaining ovary either had the normal number of follicles for a single ovary but of a significantly larger size than follicles in the controls, or alternatively had almost 70% more than the normal number of vitellogenic follicles but comprising two distinctly different size populations. Differences in plasma oestradiol-17β concentrations at the final sample were seen only in females unilaterally ovariectomised 4 months prior to ovulation, where the levels were significantly lower than both the sham operated and control fish (p < 0.05).

These data show that in the rainbow trout, complete compensatory ovarian hypertrophy following unilateral ovariectomy can occur throughout a major part of ovarian development, but that follicle recruitment is limited to stages up to (and therefore fecundity is determined by) mid-vitellogenesis.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References cited

  • Billard R. 1987. The reproductive cycle of the male and female brown trout (Salmo trutta fario); a quantitative study. Reprod. Nutr. Develop. 27: 29–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billard, R., Crim, L.W., Peter, R.E. and Breton, B. 1982. Long-term changes in plasma and pituitary GtH after castration of rainbow trout at an immature stage. In Reproductive Physiology of Fish. pp. 50. Edited by C.J.J. Ritcher and H.J.Th. Goos. Pudoc Press, Wageningen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billeter, E. and Jorgensen, C.B. 1976. Ovarian development in young toads, Bufo bufo bufo (L.): Effect of unilateral ovariectomy, hypophysectomy, treatment with gonadotropin (hCG), growth hormone and prolactin, and importance of body growth. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 29: 531–544.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carragher, J.C., Sumpter, J.P., Pottinger, T.G. and Pickering, A.D. 1989. The deleterious effects of cortisol implantation on reproductive function in two species of trout, Salmo trutta L. and Salmo gairdneri Richardson. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 76: 310–321.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Craig-Bennett, A. 1931. The reproductive cycle of the three spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus Linn. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London Ser. 219: 197–279.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dadzie, S. and Hyder, M. 1976. Compensatory hypertrophy of the remaining ovary and the effects of methallibure in the unilaterally ovariectomized Tilapia aurea. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 29: 433–440.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Deshmukh, M.K., Krishna, R.N.S. and Subhedar, N. 1992. Ovarian stretch signals trigger volume increase in the magnocellular preoptic nuclear region in the brain of the catfish, Clarias batrachus (Linn.). J. Exp. Zool. 263: 231–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franchi, L.L., Mandle, A.M. and Zuckermann, S. 1962. The development of the ovary and the process of oogenesis. In The Ovary. pp. 1–88. Edited by R.E. Jones. Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gosden, R.G., Telfer, E., Faddy, M.J. and Brook, D.J. 1989. Ovarian cyclicity and follicular recruitment in unilaterally ovariectomized mice. J. Reprod. Fertil. 87: 257–264.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goswami, S.V. and Sundararaj, B.I. 1968a. Compensatory hypertrophy of the remaining ovary after unilateral ovariectomy at various phases of the reproductive cycle of catfish, Heteropnueustes fossilis (Bloch). Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 11: 401–413.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goswami, S.V. and Sundararaj, B.I. 1968b. Effect of estradiol benzoate, human chorionic gonadotrophin, and folliclestimulating hormone on unilateral ovariectomy-induced compensatory hypertrophy in catfish, Heteropnueustes fossilis (Bloch). Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 11: 393–400.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Greenwald, G.S. 1961. Quantitative study of follicular development in the ovary of the intact or unilaterally ovariectomised hamster. J. Reprod. Fertil. 2: 351–361.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hirshfield, A.N. 1982. Follicular recruitment in long term hemicastrate rats. Biol. Reprod. 27: 48–53.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jansen, R. 1994. Follicles in competition. Nature, Lond. 367: 10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, R.E. 1978. Control of follicular selection. In The Vertebrate Ovary: Comparative Biology and Evolution. pp. 763–788. Edited by R.E. Jones. Plenum Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, R.E., Fitzgerald, K.T. and Duvall, D. 1978. Quantitative analysis of the ovarian cycle of the lizard Lepidodactylus lugubris. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 35: 70–76.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, R.E., Fitzgerald, K.T. and Tokarz, R.R. 1977. Endocrine control of clutch size in reptiles. VII. Compensatory ovarian hypertrophy following unilateral ovarectomy in Sceloporus occidentalis. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 31: 157–160.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jorgensen, C.B. 1973. Pattern of recruitment of oocytes to second growth phase in normal toads, and in hypophysectomised toads Bufo bufo bufo (L), treated with gonadotrophin (hCG). Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 21: 152–159.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kanamori, A.K., Adachi, S. and Nagahama, Y. 1988. Developmental changes in steroidogenic responses of ovarian follicles of amago salmon (Oncorhynchus rhodurus) to chum salmon gonadotropin during oogenesis. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 72: 13–24.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kjaer, K. and Jorgensen, C.B. 1971. Effects of mammalian gonadotropins on ovary in the toad Bufo bufo bufo (L). Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 17: 424–431.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lacker, H.M., Beers, W.H., Meuli, L.E. and Akin, E. 1987. A theory of follicle selection: I Hypotheses and examples. Biol. Reprod. 37: 570–580.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meijs-Roelofs, H.M.A., Kramer, P., Osman, P. and Sander, H.J. 1984. Compensatory ovulatory mechanisms operative after first ovulation in rats unilaterally ovariectomised prepuberally. Biol. Reprod. 31: 44–51.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meijs-Roelofs, H.M.A., Osman, P. and Kramer, P. 1982. Ovarian follicular development leading to first ovulation and accompanying gonadotrophin levels as studied in the unilaterally ovariectomized rat. J. Endocrinol. 92: 341–349.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nagahama, Y. 1983. The functional morphology of teleost gonads. In Reproduction-Endocrine Tissues and Hormones. pp. 223–276. Edited by W.S. Hoar, D.J. Randall and E.M. Donaldson. Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osman, P., Meijs-Roelofs, H.M.A. and Kramer, P. 1982. Compensatory follicle growth and ovulation after unilateral ovariectomy during the late prepubertal period in the rat. In Development and Function of Reproductive Organs. pp. 299–306. Edited by A.G. Byskov and H. Peters. Exerpta Medica, Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peppler, R.D. and Greenwald, G.S. 1970. Influence of unilateral ovariectomy on follicular development in cycling rats. Am. J. Anatomy 127: 9–14.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, M.D. 1958. Accelerated development of testis after unilateral gonadectomy, with observations of the normal testes of rainbow trout. Bull. Fish Wildl. Serv. 58: 9–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sinervo, B. and Licht, P. 1991. Hormonal and physiological control of clutch size, egg size, and egg shape in side-blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana): Constraints on the evolution of lizard life histories. J. Exp. Zool. 257: 252–264.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sumpter, J.P., Lincoln, R.F., Bye, V.J., Carragher, J.F. and LeBail, P.Y. 1991. Plasma growth hormone levels during sexual maturation in diploid and triploid rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 83: 103–110.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tyler, C.R. 1991. Vitellogenesis in Salmonids. In Reproductive Physiology of Fish. pp. 295–299. Edited by A.P. Scott, J.P. Sumpter, D. Kime and M.S. Rolfe. University of East Anglia Press, Norwich.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyler, C.R., Sumpter, J.P. and Bromage, N.R. 1988. In vivo ovarian uptake and processing of vitellogenin in the rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri. J. Exp. Zool. 246: 171–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyler, C.R., Sumpter, J.P. and Handford, R. 1990a. The dynamics of vitellogenin sequestration into vitellogenic ovarian follicles of the rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri. Fish Physiol. Biochem. 8: 211–219.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tyler, C.R., Sumpter, J.P. and Witthames, P.R. 1990b. The dynamics of oocyte growth during vitellogenesis in the rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri. Biol. Reprod. 43: 202–209.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wallace, R.A. and Selman, K. 1981. Cellular and dynamic aspects of oocyte growth in teleosts. Am. Zool. 21: 325–343.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Biochemistry, Brunel University, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3PH, United Kingdom

    C. R. Tyler, J. J. Nagler & M. A. Turner

  2. Institute of Freshwater Ecology, Windermere laboratory, Far Sawrey, Ambleside, Cumbria, LA22 OLP, United Kingdom

    T. G. Pottinger

Authors
  1. C. R. Tyler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. J. Nagler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. T. G. Pottinger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. M. A. Turner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Tyler, C.R., Nagler, J.J., Pottinger, T.G. et al. Effects of unilateral ovariectomy on recruitment and growth of follicles in the rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss . Fish Physiol Biochem 13, 309–316 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00003435

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00003435

Keywords

Search

Navigation