Ultrastructural changes in micropylar cells and formation of the micropyle during oogenesis in the medaka Oryzias latipes

Abstract

Ultrastructural changes in differentiating micropylar cells and in the micropyle occur during oogenesis in the medaka, Oryzias latipes. A micropylar cell is not detectable in previtellogenic ovarian follicles. In the early vitellogenic phase, the micropylar cell becomes differentiated from neighboring granulosa cells by its electrondense cytoplasm. The micropylar cell in this phase characteristically displays an increase in rough endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi complexes, and tonofilaments around the nucleus. By the late vitellogenic phase, the enlarged micropylar cell extends a broad cytoplasmic process to the oocyte surface. A conspicuous feature of the process is a large bundle of microtubules oriented perpendicular to the oocyte surface. The inner surface of the micropylar canal has a spiral structure and is covered with the outermost layer of the chorion. In the postvitellogenic phase, the main cell body possesses many tonofilaments, mitochondria, Golgi complexes, and rough endoplasmic reticulum, and the winding cytoplasmic process contains a twisted large bundle of microtubules with a bundle of tonofilaments as its core. The spiral structure of the micropylar vestibule and the micropylar canal reflects the twisting associated with elongation of fibrous bundles of the micropylar cell anchored on the chorion at the animal pole of the oocyte.