Regulation of meiosis in the foetal mouse gonad.

In vitro culture of male and female gonads was found to have significant effects on gonadal structure and development. Culture resulted in a reduction of testicular cord diameter and a reduction in the number of Sertoli cells lining each cord in cross section. In the female, culture increased the percentage of pyknotic oocytes and fewer germ cells per unit of ovary volume reached diplotene. Mixed sex co-culture using different culture methods showed that day 14 p.c. testes inhibited meiosis in day 14 p.c. ovaries when the cultures were continued until the equivalent of day 21 p.c. Day 15 p.c. and mixed age co-cultures of mixed sex provided more equivocal data since meiosis was inhibited in some preparations but not in others. The possibility is suggested that prophase I may proceed irrevocably to diplotene after about day 15 p.c. and thus the inhibitory effects of foetal testes may be a function of female gonadal age. No evidence was found to support the hypothesis that mixed sex co-culture may stimulate meiosis precociously in foetal testes.