Oocyte differentiation in Urechis caupo (echiura): A fine structural study

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Abstract
The fine structure of oocytes of Urechis caupo is described for seven arbitrary stages ranging from the smallest oocytes (7μm in diameter) in the coelom to the mature oocytes (115 μm in diameter) in the storage organs. Although most types of cytoplasmic organelles accumulate more or less continuously, yolk granules do not appear until oocytes reach a diameter of 35 μm, and there is stage-specific synthesis of cortical granules in 60-80 μm oocytes. In the nucleus a single nucleolus first appears when an oocyte is 15 μm in diameter. Then a nucleolus satellite, which is about 3 μm in diameter, forms in 30 μm oocytes; this nucleolus satellite later (60-70 μm oocytes) becomes surrounded by 750 nm dense spherical bodies. Large (2-4 μm in diameter) juxtachromosomal spherules occur only in the nuclei of mature oocytes. Microvilli become progressively more numerous and longer until the oocytes reaches a diameter of 90 μm their tips project 1 μm beyond the fibrous surface coat, which is 2 μm thick when well developed. Near the end of oocyte growth, the microvilli retract into the surface coat leaving their pinched-off tips adhering to the outside of the coat.