Nutritional Stress-Induced Implantation Failure in Newly Inseminated Mice: Effect of the Presence of Stud Males

Summary

Implantation failure was induced in a large proportion of newly inseminated female mice by food deprivation for 48 hrs beginning at 10.00 hr on day 4 post coitum. The presence of the stud male prevented implantation failure in food-deprived females. The protective effect on implantation in food-deprived females was not provided by the presence of a conspecific strange male. It is suggested that the newly inseminated female retains the olfactory “memory” of the stud male over a period of time after mating and this memory induces a luteotrophic effect in food-deprived females leading to the protection of implantation. The results also lend strong support to the view that the newly inseminated female mouse identifies her coital partner as an individual through olfactory cues.

Key words

Food deprivation - Implantation failure - Stud male - Pheromones - Individual identification