OOGENESIS AND EFFECTS OF NEUROENDOCRINE TISSUES ON INVITRO SYNTHESIS OF PROTEIN BY THE OVARY OF THE RED SWAMP CRAYFISH PROCAMBARUS-CLARKII (GIRARD)

In the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii oocyte development was classified into seven stages according to morphological characters: (1) oogonial (< 10-mu-m), (2) immature (10-65-mu-m), (3) avitellogenic (66-160-mu-m), (4) early vitellogenic (161-245-mu-m), (5) midvitellogenic (246-455-mu-m), (6) late vitellogenic (456-980-mu-m), and (7) postvitellogenic and resorptive. Stage 1 (oogonial) is a multiplication stage, and oocyte maturation occurs in stages 2-6. Follicle cells become arranged around the oocytes in stage 3. Stages 4, 5, and 6 are the yolk granule development stages, with strongly acidophilic yolk granules accumulating in the cytoplasm. Yolk granules first appear at the periphery and then gradually spread throughout the cytoplasm. The ovarian index increases steadily up to stage 6, but in stage 7 the ovarian index decreases. The incorporation of C-14-leucine into ovarian or oocyte proteins occurs throughout vitellogenesis. When ovarian tissue was incubated with the eyestalk neuroendocrine tissues, leucine incorporation was inhibited, whereas when other neuroendocrine tissues, brain, subesophageal ganglion, or thoracic ganglia, were added to the incubation medium, leucine incorporation into ovarian proteins increased significantly. The inhibition produced by the eyestalk tissues was presumably due to the well-documented ovary-inhibiting hormone, whereas the stimulation produced by the other organs was presumably due to an ovary-stimulating hormone.