Ultrastructural study of primordial germ cells, oogonia and oocytes in goat fetus

According to morphological evidences, primordial germ cells (PGCs) are derived from the caudal endoderm of the yolk sac and migrate to embryonic gonads. After entering the gonads, first they differentiate to oogonia and then to oocytes. In the present study, ultrastructure of PGCs, oogonia and oocytes has been examined. Tissue samples were collected from posterior parts of the yolk sacs of fetuses in the early stages of development (with age of less than 1 month), and also gonads of fetuses at later developmental stages (with age of more than 1 month). Samples were studied using transmission electron microscopy after fixation, washing with buffers, dehydration, embedding and staining with uranyl acetate and lead citrate. The Results indicated that PGCs were large with oval to spherical nuclei, reticular chromatin with nucleoli, and there were plenty of glycogen and also different organelles in their cytoplasm. Oogonia showed active mitotic divisions. These cells had regular plasma membranes and were observed as cellular clusters with spherical shape, euchromatin nucleus containing one or more nucleoli, round mitochondria and vacuoles with different sizes in cytoplasm. Oocytes had larger sizes in comparison with oogonia but didnt show cellular clusters.