Hormonal Effect on Cultivated Insect Tissue II. Effects of Jurvenile Hormone on Spermiogenesis of the Silkworm, Bombyx mori L., in vitro (Lepidoptera : Bombycidae)

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Abstract
Effects of juvenile hormone(JH) or the corpus allatum on cultivated spermatocysts of the silkworm, Bombyx mori L., were studied in vitro. In cultures with GRACE'S medium containing insect haemolymph, the majority of spermatocysts showed definite elongation and became to contain the well-defferentiated spermatids 5 days after onset of cultivation. However, spermiogenesis was completely blocked when the spermatocysts were brought into the culture of a corpus allatum which had been pre-cultured for 5 days or the spermatocysts were cultured in the medium containing 50 μg/ml of JH. The inhibitory effects of JH were weak in the case that the spermatocysts were cultivated with the lower doses of JH or co-cultured with 10 corpora allata. It was concluded that the spermiogenesis of the silkworm was directly inhibited by JH in vitro.