Summary
Certain cytoplasmic components of the ovarian oocytes of hamster, rat, mouse, guinea pig and cat are described and compared. Special attention is given to non-membranous cytoplasmic lamellae, concentric arrangements of the endoplasmic reticulum, and the morphology of various membrane-bound bodies. The possible significance of some of these entities is discussed.
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Since preparation of this manuscript, my attention has been called to a paper by A. C. Enders and S. J. Schlafke (in Ciba Foundation Symposium on Preimplantation Stages of Pregnancy, 1965, pp. 29–54, Ed. G. E. W. Wolstenholme and M. O'Connor, J. & A. Churchill, Ltd., London) in which “fibrous elements” are reported to occur in cells of four-and five-day blastocysts in four species of small rodent. These appear morphologically identical to the non-membranous lamellae in the oocytes described above, indicating that these structures persist in the trophoblastic cells during cleavage.
Supported in part by U.S.P.H.S. Post-doctoral Fellowship 5 F2 HD-25, 190-02.
I wish to thank Prof. R. E. Coupland for this continued interest in this research and for his helpful comments. I wish to thank Dr. George Christie for providing me with the guinea pig and cat tissues.
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Weakley, B.S. Comparison of cytoplasmic lamellae and membranous elements in the oocytes of five mammalian species. Zeitschrift für Zellforschung 85, 109–123 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00330591
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00330591