Delay and acceleration of puberty in female mice by urinary chemosignals from other females.
A sequence of 7 experiments tested various aspects of the acceleration and delay of sexual maturation in young female mice as affected by cues from other females: Singly caged females produce the maturation-delaying chemosignal when exposed to urine from grouped females. Urine from females housed 3 or more/cage produces delays in puberty for young females. Urine from females in estrus accelerates puberty in young females relative to untreated controls or urine from non-estrous females. The delay-of-maturation phenomenon in female mice is not affected by reproductive history, cross-fostering of pups, or varying the cagemates according to whether they are sibs or nonsibs. Taken together these and previous findings suggest that female mice excrete, in their urine, a series of chemicals which act as signals regarding the adequacy of reproductive conditions.
D000818:Animals; D003463:Cues; D004031:Diestrus; D004971:Estrus; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008426:Maternal Deprivation; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D011247:Pregnancy; D012741:Sexual Maturation / Q000187:drug effects; D012934:Social Isolation; D014556:Urine