Oogenesis in rabbits

✍ Scribed by Peters, Hannah ;Levy, Emilia ;Crone, Monna

• Book ID: 102891623
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1965
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 883 KB
• Volume: 158
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-104X
• DOI: 10.1002/jez.1401580205

✦ Synopsis

Oogenesis in rabbits was investigated by examining the development of germ cells after birth. The transformation of oogonia to oocytes begins in the one day old animal. The appearance of the different stages of meiotic prophase was noted and their differential distribution in the germ cell population determined. The early stages of meiotic prophase develop within the first two weeks of life, however, they are transitory and have transformed into the "stationary" phase of prophase by the end of the third week of life, when all nuclei of oocytes are in diplotene.

DNA synthesis in germ cells was studied with the aid of H3-thymidine, which was injected into animals within the first ten days of life. The number of labeled germ cells varies with the age of the animal at the time of injection. Injection between the day of birth and the age of four days results in the labeling of 20 to 35% of the germ cells. After this age the labeling index falls, reaching 3% in the ten day old animal.

The synthesis of the oocyte DNA takes place in the premeiotic interphase and may extend into the early phase of prophase, i.e. leptotene.