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Title: ULTRASTRUCTURE OF THE FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM OF THE LESION NEMATODE, PRATYLENCHUS PENETRANS

Author
item ENDO, BURTON - RETIRED, USDA
item WERGIN, WILLIAM
item ZUNKE, ULRICH - UNIV HAMBURG, BOTANY INST

Submitted to: Journal of Nematology
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/1/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: A transmission electron microscopic investigation of the reproductive system of adult females of Pratylenchus penetrans revealed ultrastructural details of the oocyte development and the transformation of oocytes into eggs. Oogonial cell divisions were not observed; however, oogonial development into oocytes was distinctive in that most of the nuclei of ovarian cells were in the pachytene stage, i.e., prophase I of meiosis. In the mid-section of the ovary, the oocytes increased in number, enlarged, and accumulated in a single row. Next, the oocytes entered a muscular oviduct and began to accumulate lipid bodies and protein granules. The plasma membrane of the oviduct became plicated and formed cisternae; centralized membrane junctions established openings for oocytes to enter the spermatheca. Spermatozoa traversed the lumen of the uterus and accumulated in the spermatheca. Each oocyte then passed through the spermatheca proximally and then traversed between columnar cells. The posteriad region of the columnar cells attached to other uterine cells to form the central lumen of the uterus that extended beyond the vaginal opening and into the postvulvar uterine branch of the reproductive system. The fertilized egg was deposited to the exterior after passing between cuticle-lined vaginal and vulval walls supported by anteriad and posteriad muscle bands, which had ventro-sublateral insertions on the body wall. These observations may provide clues for modifying or disrupting nematode reproduction and could lead to new methods of control for economically destructive species.