Structural modifications of the nuclear components during lizard oogenesis in relation to the differentiation of the follicular epithelium

Abstract

This paper deals with an electron microscope study of nucleolar ultrastructural modifications that occur in the oocytes of the lizard Podarcis sicula during ovarian follicle differentiation. In small diplotene oocytes around which a monolayered follicular epithelium forms, the nucleolus appears as a fibrillo-granular structure. Afterwards, simultaneously with the beginning of pyriform cell differentiation inside the granulosa, the nucleolus progressively condenses and breaks into fragments, forming dense spherical bodies. In larger follicles, with well differentiated pyriform cells, a typical nucleolus is no longer detectable in the oocyte nucleus. These ultrastructural modifications suggest a possible impairment of the oocyte nucleolus in ribosome organization. A possible involvement of pyriform cells in supplying ribosomes to the growing oocyte is discussed.