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DEVELOPMENT AND RADIO-RESPONSE OF THE PRENATAL BOVINE OVARY B. H. ERICKSON Agricultural Research Laboratory of the University of Tennessee,^ Oak Ridge, Tennessee, U.S.A. {Received \2th May 1965) Summary. Qualitative observations of forty-nine bovine foetuses taken at varying stages of gestation revealed the following: (1) the germinal ridge is established at the 32nd day of gestation; (2) due to the formation of the tunica albuginea of the primitive testis, foetal sex is distinguishable by Day 39; (3) meiosis begins in ovaries at 75 to 80 days post coitum; (4) oogonial mitosis is discontinued by 150 to 170 days; (5) the majority of the oocytes have attained their stage of rest (pachytene) and are enveloped in primordial follicles by Day 170; and (6) vesicular follicles appear in ovaries at Day 250 of ges- tation. Total germ-cell numbers, based on volumetric determinations or direct counts, increased from a low of approximately 16,000 at Day 50 to a high of 2,700,000 at Day 110. From Day 110 numbers declined abruptly to 107,000 at Day 170 and the ovaries of four foetuses at 270 days of gestation (average length of gestation, 283 days) contained an average of 68,000 \m=+-\21,000 germ cells. Seventy prenatally irradiated (400 R, whole-body to dam) and twenty-five non-irradiated heifers were slaughtered at either 9 or 23 months of age. Microscopic examinations of their ovaries revealed that irradiation was apparently without effect during the interval of 17 to 59 days of gestation, and of questionable effect during the interval of 59 to 119 days of gestation. Irradiation administered during the 119- to 154-day interval, however, diminished germ-cell numbers by an average of 68%. From Day 154 to term, irradiation was again without effect. The mitotically active oogonium was probably the cell affected during the interval of 59 to 119 days of gestation and the drastic germinal decline during the 119- to 154-day interval was believed to be related to the progression of oocytes from zygotene to pachytene, a transition during which the oocyte under normal conditions is highly susceptible to death. * This paper is published with the permission of the Director of the University of Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station, Knoxville. X Operated by the Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station for the U.S. Atomic Energy Com¬ mission under Contract No. AT.40.1.GEN.242. 97 Downloaded from Bioscientifica.com at 10/02/2021 04:15:20AM via free access 98 . Erickson INTRODUCTION Little is known regarding the prenatal development of the bovine ovary, and data concerned with the effects of ionizing radiation on the foetal ovary of this species are limited to a fertility test of a single-conception duration conducted by Parish, Murphree & Hupp (1962). No difference was noted between control and irradiated heifers. Papers by Henricson & Rajakoski (1959) and Mauléon (1961) have contri¬ buted to an understanding of some qualitative aspects of prenatal ovarian development, but no attempt has been made to interpret quantitatively the succession of events associated with the evolution of the prenatal bovine germ cell. The present study was undertaken primarily to determine the effects of ionizing radiation on the bovine germ cell at varying points in its prenatal life cycle. A secondary objective was to determine through quantitative and qualitative observations of the non-irradiated foetal ovary if changes in the radio-sensitivity of germ cells could be correlated with stages of major change in morphogenesis. MATERIALS AND METHODS PRENATAL OVARIAN DEVELOPMENT Animals Gonads or ovaries from forty-nine foetuses varying in age from 32 to 270 days of gestation were obtained at slaughter. All foetuses were the products of controlled matings of animals within the laboratory's herd of grade Here- fords. The day of mating was considered 'Day of gestation. Histology All tissues were fixed in Lavdowsky's mixture (Guyer, 1949), sectioned serially at 7 µ and stained with Iron Haematoxylin and Orange G. For quantitative assessments of total numbers of germ cells in ovaries aged up to 150 days of gestation, the combined techniques of Chalkley (1943) and Dornfeld, Slater & Scheffe (1942), as employed by Beaumont & Mandi (1962), were used. Through the method of Chalkley, with the exception of Day 50 (one animal), 600 cells were scored as to germinal or somatic character in the largest sagittal section of one ovary of each of three animals at fourteen selected stages of gestation (Table 1). Likewise, the volume of at least one ovary of each of three foetuses at points up to Day 170 was calculated after the method of Dornfeld et al. (1942). From measurements of at least twenty cells in each category, the average volumes for oogonia and oocytes at all stages of meiosis were 1055 and 1901 µ3, respectively. As the ratio of oogonia to oocytes changes with advances in ovarian development, the mean cellular volume was weighted accordingly. When the percentage of germinal tissue, total ovarian volume and the mean volume for germ cells are known, the total number of germ cells can be com¬ puted {see Beaumont & Mandi, 1962, for details). Numbers of mitotic figures, necrotic germ cells, oogonia and oocytes in leptotene, zygotene or pachytene Downloaded from Bioscientifica.com at 10/02/2021 04:15:20AM via free access The prenatal bovine ovary 99 of meiotic prophase were determined by direct counts of the cells in two of the largest sagittal sections in one ovary of at least two foetuses at each stage of gestation (Table 1). Beyond Day 150, all determinations were made from direct counts of every 10th section of serially sectioned ovaries (at least one ovary from each of three foetuses at each stage of gestation considered). To avoid spuriously high oocyte counts, only those oocytes appearing in cross section with the major portion of their chromatin mass intact were counted. RADIO-RESPONSE OF THE PRENATAL BOVINE OVARY Animals and irradiation A total of ninety-five Hereford females were used. With the balance of this number serving as controls, seventy gravid cows were exposed to a whole-body dose of 400 R (roentgens) of y-radiation (cobalt-60, measured in air at skin level) at an approximate rate of 0-7 R/min. Distribution of animals with respect to treatment and stage of pregnancy irradiated are recorded in Table 2, and a description of the radiation facility appears in an article by Wilding, Simons & Rust (1952). Based on a study of Brown, Thomas, Jones, Cross & Sasmore (1961), who employed this same facility, it is estimated that the foetuses irradiated in this study received 35 to 50 % of the air dose. The pre- natally irradiated heifers were slaughtered when aged either 9 or 23 months post partum. Histology Ovaries were bisected at their point of greatest circumference, fixed in Bouin's alcoholic fluid and sectioned at a thickness of 7 µ. Stains were as listed for the non-irradiated prenatal ovaries. Primordial follicles (oocytes encompassed by no or one layer of follicle cells), growing follicles (oocytes with two or more layers of follicle cells, but without fully-formed vesicles) and vesicular follicles were counted in five sections taken at 100 µ intervals from each 'cut' ovarian surface (ten sections/ ovary or twenty sections/animal). To avoid duplication in counts of vesicular follicles, the highest count of the ten sections from each ovary was taken as representative of the vesicular follicle population of that ovary. RESULTS DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRENATAL OVARY The germinal ridge or primitive gonad was not observed in serial sections of a specimen aged 30 days post coitum, but it was present in rudimentary form in all three specimens aged 32 days post coitum. Although not seen earlier, germ cells were distinguishable in gonads aged 35 to 36 days of gestation (three foetuses), and with the formation of the tunica albugínea in the primitive testis, sex was determinable in a specimen of 39 days gestation. The foetal bovine ovary from Day 40 to Day 70 is apparently without internal organization, but somatic and germinal elements are distinguishable Downloaded from Bioscientifica.com at 10/02/2021 04:15:20AM via free access 100 . Erickson microscopically (PI. 1, Fig. 1). Meiosis is initiated at Day 75 to Day 80 and, with this, ovigerous cords are formed, and the ovary becomes divided into cortical and medullary parts (PI. 1, Fig. 2). Oogonial mitosis is discontinued at or near 150 days of gestation, the ovigerous cords are disrupted, and by Day 170 the ovary is characterized grossly by a narrow cortical band of germinative tissue and a prominent medulla (PI. 1, Fig. 3). With the disruption of the ovigerous cords, the vast majority of surviving oocytes acquire a single layer of flattened follicle cells and thus form primordial follicles. Vesicular follicles were first seen in ovaries aged 250 days post coitum and by Day 270 the ovary in one instance became a mass of vesicular follicles (PI. 1, Fig. 4). Quantitative data concerning bovine prenatal ovarian development are Table 1 development of prenatal bovine ovary Germ§ Oocytes% Stage of Combined* Combined* No.X Total% cells Oogon- gestation ovarian ovarian mitolic germ necrotic ia$ Lepto- Pachy¬ {days) weight (mg) volume (mm3 figs- cells (%) (%) tene tene tene (%) (%) (%) 50 7 0-84 13 15,924 0 100 60 28 ± 1-70 + 0-22 304 322,275 0 100 70 36 + 5-66± 1-31 142 1,073,000 0 100 80 46 + 9-48±0-94 214 2,183,000 23 38 21 41 0 90 52 ± 9-37+ 1-67 182 2,043,000 28 36 17 45 2 110 101 + 14-18 + 3-15 223 2,739,000 25 36 21 39 4 130 132 ± 23-73 + 4-26 69 2,448,000 28 30 9 36 25 150 138 + 27-89±6-78 3 1,528,000 34 9 4 24 63 170 164 + 0 107,600 28 3 2 6 89 190 264 ± 0 81,060 18 3 0 0 97 210 423± 55 0 81,520 6 12 0 0 88 230 482± 34 0 116,200 11 7 0 0 93 250 645+ 60 0 51,513 6 2 0 0 98 270 1319 + 601 0 68,150 0-1 2 0 0 98 * With the exception of Day 50, individual values represent an average of at least three animals.