关键词: 棕色田鼠, 犁鼻器, 副嗅球, 出生后发育

Abstract: We investigated the vomeronasal organ (VNO) and accessory olfactory bulbs (AOB) of male mandarin voles (Microtus mandarinus) at postnatal 0, 5, 15, 25 days of ages using histological method. The VNO was stained using Pischinger method while AOB was stained using hematoxylin-eosin method. In the mandarin vole, which continues to grow during most of its adult life, VNO and AOB were well developed before birth. However, full development of VNO and AOB did not occur until postnatal 25 days. At birth, mandarin vole had the basic structure of VNO and AOB of the adults. From age 0 to age 25 days, the thickness of vomeronasal epithilium, the length of the vomeronasal duct, and the size of the gland increased with age. The dorsolateral vessel became larger and numbers of other vessels increased. The size of AOB, the length of the granule cell and the mitral cell zones, and the density of granule cells increased with age also, while the density of mitral cells increased from age 0 to age 15 days, then declined. Voles of age 25 days and the adults had the similar densities of mitral cells as those of age 5 days. These results suggest that possibly at postnatal age 5 days, the structure development of VNO and AOB was complete, and possibly at postnatal 25 days, VNO and AOB were fully functional.

Key words: Mandarin voles (Microtus mandarinus), Vomeronasal organ, Accessory olfactory bulb, Postnatal development