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Testicular Development in Miniature Swine¹

Agricultural Research Laboratory of The University of Tennessee, Oak Ridge, Tennessee^,3

Abstract

The growth rate and histological development of the testis during the prepubertal and pubertal periods were studied in organs taken at weekly age intervals from males of the Pitman-Moore strain of miniature swine. The periods of most rapid testicular growth and increase in seminiferous tubule diameter occurred at approximately the same age (17 to 21 wks.) in these pigs as in the standard domestic breeds, while comparable stages of histological development were attained some 2 weeks earlier by the miniature pigs. Seminiferous tubules contained only gonocytes and Sertoli cells until about 12 weeks of age. Definitive spermatogenic cells began to appear between 13 and 16 weeks, and spermatids in various stages of maturation were present in 19- to 21-week tissues. All animals more than 23 weeks old possessed tubules with mature sperm.

¹ This manuscript is published with the permission of the Director of the University of Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station, Knoxville.

² The authors extend their appreciation to Mr. Bill Kyle for his management of the animals used in this study.

³ Operated by the Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station for the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission under Contract No. AT-40-1-GEN-242.