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Melatonin secretion in a strictly subterranean mammal, the Damaraland mole-rat (Cryptomys damarensis)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 October 2003

T. A. Richter ,
B. Malpaux ,
P. A. Fleming ,
A. J. Molteno  and
N. C. Bennett
T. A. Richter
Affiliation:
Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, U.S.A.
B. Malpaux
Affiliation:
Neuroendocrinologie Sexuelle, INRA–PRC, 37380 Nouzilly, France
P. A. Fleming
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
A. J. Molteno
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
N. C. Bennett
Affiliation:
Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
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Abstract

Subterranean mammals inhabit an environment that is normally devoid of light and are therefore deprived of photoperiodic information that can be used to time important life-history events. An assessment was made of whether melatonin secretion in a strictly subterranean rodent, the Damaraland mole-rat Cryptomys damarensis, can be modified by photoperiod. In experiment 1, a clear diurnal rhythm of melatonin secretion in animals housed under a neutral photoperiod (12L:12D) was observed, with significantly higher melatonin concentrations in the dark compared to the light phase. The same diurnal melatonin rhythm was found 1 day after animals were transferred to either continuous light or continuous dark, suggesting that a circadian rhythm was maintained under acute exposure to light and dark. In experiment 2, melatonin secretion was monitored in a long (14L:10D) and short day (10L:14D) photoperiod and was found to be modified by the photoperiodic change. We therefore suggest that the Damaraland mole-rat possesses a circadian melatonin rhythm that can be physiologically modulated in response to photoperiod.

Keywords

subterraneanmole-ratmelatoninphotoperiodCryptomys damarensis
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Zoology , Volume 261 , Issue 3 , November 2003 , pp. 313 - 319
Copyright
2003 The Zoological Society of London

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