Enhanced proliferation of undifferentiated spermatogonia after treatment of short photoperiod exposure in the Syrian hamster, Mesocricetus auratus.

Five Syrian hamsters were exposed to a short photoperiod (8L:16D) during 159 days. Atrophied testes were removed, fixed in Allen's solution; paraffin sections of the testicular tissues and whole-mounted seminiferous tubules were prepared. The numbers of various types of spermatogonia were investigated and compared with those in animals maintained in natural photoperiod (12L:12D). All the types of differentiated spermatogonia (A1, A2, In, B1, B2) were significantly decreased in number after the treatment of short photoperiod exposure, while undifferentiated spermatogonia (isolated, paired and aligned type) were significantly increased at stages V-VI and VII-VIII of the seminiferous epithelial cycle. This strictly local reaction of the undifferentiated spermatogonia to the loss of the differentiated spermatogonia suggests the presence of a feedback effect of a certain type(s) of differentiated cells to the undifferentiated spermatogonial proliferation. This feedback mechanism may also play an important role for regulating annual changes in spermatogenesis of seasonal breeders, not only in laboratory but also in natural habitat.