Fig 1.
Characteristics of female white-tailed deer reproductive tract.
(A) Fawns reproductive tract illustrating the ovary (Ov), oviduct (Od), left and right uterine horns (LH and RH, respectively), uterine body (UB), cervix (C), and large antral follicle (Fol); (B) ovaries of a young fawn with very low antral follicle activity; (C and D) ovaries of a fawn with the presence of mature antral follicle; (E and F) ovaries of a doe with presence of corpus luteum (CL) and Fol; and (G, H, and I) reproductive tract of does.
Fig 2.
Uterus weight (A and C) and length (B and D) in white-tailed deer fawns (A and B; n = 8) and does (C and D; n = 10). Horizontal dashed line represents the overall mean within each figure.
Table 1.
Mean (± S.E.M.) values for macroscopic characteristics of the uterus and ovary in white-tailed deer fawns and does.
Fig 3.
Ovary weight (A and C) and volume (B and D) for each side (left and right) in white-tailed deer fawns (A and B; n = 8) and does (C and D; n = 10).
Table 2.
Mean (± S.E.M.) values for macroscopic characteristics of the reproductive tract according to the side (left vs. right) of the uterine horn and ovary in white-tailed deer fawns and does.
Fig 4.
(A) Mean (± S.E.M.) percentage distribution of antral follicles in the ovary of white-tailed deer fawns (n = 8) and does (n = 10); (B) Size of the largest follicle in each fawn and doe; (C) Overall mean (± S.E.M.) number of ovarian structures (total antral follicles; follicles <5 mm; follicles ≥5 mm; corpus luteum, CL; and corpus albicans, CA) in fawns and does. a,b Values without a common superscript differed (P < 0.05) between fawns and does. # Value tended (P < 0.08) to differ between fawns and does.
Table 3.
Mean (± S.E.M.) diameter of preantral follicles and oocytes per classes in white-tailed deer fawns and does.
Fig 5.
Preantral follicle population for each white-tailed deer fawns (n = 8) and does (n = 10).
Dashed lines represent the mean for each age group.
Fig 6.
Preantral follicle distribution in the ovary of white-tailed deer fawns (n = 8) and does (n = 10).
a,b Within follicle class, values without a common superscript differed (P < 0.05).
Fig 7.
Characteristics of preantral follicle population in the ovary of white-tailed deer (A) fawns and (B) does, and preantral follicles classes such as (C) primordial, (D) transition, (E) primary, and (F) secondary. (G) Preantral follicle population according to follicle class for white-tailed deer fawns (n = 8) and does (n = 10). a,b Within the same types of columns, values without a common superscript differed (P < 0.05). Bars = 10 μm (C–F).
Fig 8.
Mean (± S.E.M.) preantral follicle population, according to follicle classes, comparing left and right ovaries in white-tailed deer fawns (n = 8) and does (n = 10).
a,b,c,d Within the same types of columns, values without a common superscript differed (P < 0.05) between left and right ovaries within each age group.
Table 4.
Mean (± S.E.M.) percentage of normal preantral follicles in each follicular class according to age (fawns and does) and ovary side (left and right).
Table 5.
Mean (± S.E.M.) density of preantral follicles and stromal cells in ovaries of white-tailed deer fawns and does.
Fig 9.
Representative images of apoptotic cells in white-tailed deer ovary. (A) positive control, (B) negative control, (C) fawns, and (D) does. (E) Intensity of TUNEL staining per unit area for positive and negative controls, and left and right ovaries of fawns (n = 5) and does (n = 5). (F) Linear regression between the percentage of normal follicles and TUNEL quantification in fawns [TUNEL = 24640375.802 –(120834.742 * %Normal), r = –0.4, r2 = 0.16, P < 0.001]. Each dot represents one ovary (n = 10) of 5 fawns. a,b Within does, values without a common superscript differed (P < 0.05).