TY - JOUR
T1 - Morphological reproductive characteristics of testes and fertilization capacity of cryopreserved sperm after the Fukushima accident in raccoon (Procyon lotor)
AU - Komatsu, Kazuki
AU - Iwasaki, Tsugumi
AU - Murata, Kosuke
AU - Yamashiro, Hideaki
AU - Goh, Valerie Swee Ting
AU - Nakayama, Ryo
AU - Fujishima, Yohei
AU - Ono, Takumi
AU - Kino, Yasushi
AU - Simizu, Yoshinaka
AU - Takahashi, Atsushi
AU - Shinoda, Hisashi
AU - Ariyoshi, Kentaro
AU - Kasai, Kosuke
AU - Suzuki, Masatoshi
AU - Palmerini, Maria Grazia
AU - Belli, Manuel
AU - Macchiarelli, Guido
AU - Oka, Toshitaka
AU - Fukumoto, Manabu
AU - Yoshida, Mitsuaki A.
AU - Nakata, Akifumi
AU - Miura, Tomisato
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by JAEA Nuclear Energy S&T and Human Resource Development Project through concentrating wisdom Grant Number JPMX 17S17942991 (Strategic joint research programs for nuclear science). We thank Prof. Noboru Naito from the Fukushima Reconstruction Support Association in Niigata. We also thank Prof. Aiji Otsuka, Okayama University, for his advice on sample transfer to Italy. We express our gratitude to the Namie Town, Fukushima, Ishikari City, Hokkaido and Tsugaru Hirosaki agricultural cooperative, Aomori for capturing the raccoons. Finally, special thanks to DVM. Tadashi Toyoda of the Toyoda Veterinary Hospital and Mr. Toru Akama for guiding us around Namie, Fukushima.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Wiley-VCH GmbH
PY - 2021/3
Y1 - 2021/3
N2 - Since the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident, we have established an archive system of livestock and wild animals from the surrounding ex-evacuation zone. Wildlife within the alert zone have been exposed to low-dose-rate (LDR) radiation for a long continuous time. In this study, we analysed the morphological characteristics of the testes and in vitro fertilization (IVF) capacity of cryopreserved sperm of racoons from the ex-evacuation zone of the FDNPP accident. The radioactivity of caesium-137 (137Cs) was measured by gamma-ray spectrometry, and the measured radioactivity concentration was 300–6,630 Bq/kg in the Fukushima raccoons. Notably, normal spermatogenesis was observed in the seminiferous tubules of the testes, with the germinal epithelium composed of a spermatogenic cell lineage with no evident ultrastructural alterations; freeze-thawing sperm penetration ability was confirmed using the interspecific zona pellucida-free mouse oocytes IVF assays. This study revealed that the chronic and LDR radiation exposure associated with the FDNPP accident had no adverse effect on the reproductive characteristics and functions of male raccoons.
AB - Since the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident, we have established an archive system of livestock and wild animals from the surrounding ex-evacuation zone. Wildlife within the alert zone have been exposed to low-dose-rate (LDR) radiation for a long continuous time. In this study, we analysed the morphological characteristics of the testes and in vitro fertilization (IVF) capacity of cryopreserved sperm of racoons from the ex-evacuation zone of the FDNPP accident. The radioactivity of caesium-137 (137Cs) was measured by gamma-ray spectrometry, and the measured radioactivity concentration was 300–6,630 Bq/kg in the Fukushima raccoons. Notably, normal spermatogenesis was observed in the seminiferous tubules of the testes, with the germinal epithelium composed of a spermatogenic cell lineage with no evident ultrastructural alterations; freeze-thawing sperm penetration ability was confirmed using the interspecific zona pellucida-free mouse oocytes IVF assays. This study revealed that the chronic and LDR radiation exposure associated with the FDNPP accident had no adverse effect on the reproductive characteristics and functions of male raccoons.
KW - biobank
KW - environmental pollution
KW - gonad
KW - procyonids
KW - wildlife
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U2 - 10.1111/rda.13887
DO - 10.1111/rda.13887
M3 - Article
C2 - 33372327
AN - SCOPUS:85099478734
SN - 0936-6768
VL - 56
SP - 484
EP - 497
JO - Reproduction in Domestic Animals
JF - Reproduction in Domestic Animals
IS - 3
ER -
