Structures in material transference and vitelline envelope formation in Betta splendens follicles.

Abstract

Structures were found by transmission electron microscopy, they were located within follicular cells and the oocyte, and in the interspace between them in follicles of the teleost fish Betta splendens. Some structures with features characteristic or lamellar bodies were found in small follicles. The possible role of these structures in the formation of the vitelline envelope as well as in the material transference is discussed. Vacuoles, vesticles and particles intensely stained were found in the microvilli and the cortical cytoplasm of the oocyte at the onset of vitellogenesis. These results suggest that different substances present in the cellular components of the follicle might be transferred from cell to cell through the extracellular space and through the prolongations that cross the extracellular space.