Hormonal factors in the sex differentiation of the mammalian foetus

1970 ◽  
Vol 259 (828) ◽  
pp. 119-131 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Differentiation ◽  
Normal Development ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Sex Differentiation ◽  
Animal Experiments ◽  
Hormonal Control ◽  
The Body ◽  
Sex Characteristics ◽  
The Feminine ◽  
Developmental Analysis

1 Sex differentiates under genetic control during successive periods. Classical morphological and experimental data have shown the sexual bipotentiality of the developing structures. But, as a matter of fact, several observations indicate that both sexes are not equal or equipotential as to their developmental trends and mechanisms. 2 The developmental analysis of the body sex characteristics reveals a hormonal control. In animal experiments made by the author and by others it has been observed that many structures or systems develop along the feminine type in the absence of testes during several critical developmental stages. These structures include the genital tract, the hypothalamic centres controlling the pituitary function, the nervous structures mediating sex behaviour and possibly other tissues. The ovary is unnecessary for the feminine differentiation of these structures; in males, femaleness has to be repressed and maleness imposed by the testes. 3 The problem of gonadal sex differentiation is re-evaluated; developmental aspects occurring during normal development or in the gonads of freemartins in cattle are examined. During early sexual differentiation of the gonads, testes rapidly differentiate whereas ovaries are first characterized mainly by the fact that they do not become testes. These observations can be interpreted by assuming that in males a signal imposes masculinity on the gonadal primordia which otherwise would slowly become ovaries. 4 It is hypothesized that throughout sexual differentiation in mammals, maleness has to be actively imposed on a system which will become feminine if it escapes this control.

scholarly journals Protandric Transcriptomes to Uncover Parts of the Crustacean Sex-Differentiation Puzzle

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Levy ◽  
Valerio Zupo ◽  
Mirko Mutalipassi ◽  
Emanuele Somma ◽  
Nadia Ruocco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Differentiation ◽  
Sex Differentiation ◽  
Mature Female ◽  
Young Female ◽  
The Body ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Early Developmental Stage ◽  
Specific Expression ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Specific Expression Pattern

Hermaphrodite systems offer unique opportunities to study sexual differentiation, due to their high degree of sexual plasticity and to the fact that, unlike gonochoristic systems, the process is not confined to an early developmental stage. In protandric shrimp species, such as Hippolyte inermis and Pandalus platyceros, male differentiation is followed by transformation to femaleness during adulthood. The mechanisms controlling sexual differentiation have not been fully elucidated in crustaceans, but a key role has been attributed to the insulin-like hormone (IAG) produced by the androgenic gland (AG), a crustacean masculine endocrine organ. To uncover further transcriptomic toolkit elements affecting the sexual differentiation of H. inermis, we constructed eye and whole body RNA libraries of four representative stages during its protandric life cycle (immature, male, young female and mature female). The body libraries contained transcripts related to the reproductive system, among others, while the eye libraries contained transcripts related to the X-organ-sinus gland, a central endocrine complex that regulates crustacean reproduction. Binary pattern analysis, performed to mine for genes expressed differentially between the different life stages, yielded 19,605 and 6,175 transcripts with a specific expression pattern in the eye and body, respectively. Prominent sexually biased transcriptomic patterns were recorded for the IAG and vitellogenin genes, representing, respectively, a key factor within the masculine IAG-switch, and a precursor of the yolk protein, typical of feminine reproductive states. These patterns enabled the discovery of novel putative protein-coding transcripts exhibiting sexually biased expression in the H. inermis body and eye transcriptomes of males and females. Homologs to the above novel genes have been found in other decapod crustaceans, and a comparative study, using previously constructed transcriptomic libraries of another protandric shrimp, P. platyceros, showed similar sexually biased results, supporting the notion that such genes, mined from the H. inermis transcriptome, may be universal factors related to reproduction and sexual differentiation and their control in other crustaceans. This study thus demonstrates the potential of transcriptomic studies in protandric species to uncover unexplored layers of the complex crustacean sex-differentiation puzzle.

scholarly journals Perilla frutescens Leaf Extract and Fractions: Polyphenol Composition, Antioxidant, Enzymes (α-Glucosidase, Acetylcholinesterase, and Tyrosinase) Inhibitory, Anticancer, and Antidiabetic Activities

Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 315
Author(s):  
Zhenxing Wang ◽  
Zongcai Tu ◽  
Xing Xie ◽  
Hao Cui ◽  
Kin Weng Kong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ethyl Acetate ◽  
Animal Experiments ◽  
Ethyl Acetate Fraction ◽  
The Body ◽  
Total Phenolic ◽  
Antioxidant Power ◽  
Glycogen Accumulation ◽  
Inhibitory Ability

This study aims to evaluate the bioactive components, in vitro bioactivities, and in vivo hypoglycemic effect of P. frutescens leaf, which is a traditional medicine-food homology plant. P. frutescens methanol crude extract and its fractions (petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol fractions, and aqueous phase residue) were prepared by ultrasound-enzyme assisted extraction and liquid–liquid extraction. Among the samples, the ethyl acetate fraction possessed the high total phenolic (440.48 μg GAE/mg DE) and flavonoid content (455.22 μg RE/mg DE), the best antioxidant activity (the DPPH radical, ABTS radical, and superoxide anion scavenging activity, and ferric reducing antioxidant power were 1.71, 1.14, 2.40, 1.29, and 2.4 times higher than that of control Vc, respectively), the most powerful α-glucosidase inhibitory ability with the IC50 value of 190.03 μg/mL which was 2.2-folds higher than control acarbose, the strongest proliferative inhibitory ability against MCF-7 and HepG2 cell with the IC50 values of 37.92 and 13.43 μg/mL, which were considerable with control cisplatin, as well as certain inhibition abilities on acetylcholinesterase and tyrosinase. HPLC analysis showed that the luteolin, rosmarinic acid, rutin, and catechin were the dominant components of the ethyl acetate fraction. Animal experiments further demonstrated that the ethyl acetate fraction could significantly decrease the serum glucose level, food, and water intake of streptozotocin-induced diabetic SD rats, increase the body weight, modulate their serum levels of TC, TG, HDL-C, and LDL-C, improve the histopathology and glycogen accumulation in liver and intestinal tissue. Taken together, P. frutescens leaf exhibits excellent hypoglycemic activity in vitro and in vivo, and could be exploited as a source of natural antidiabetic agent.

scholarly journals Sex Differentiation in Amphibians: Effect of Temperature and Its Influence on Sex Reversal

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Adrián Ruiz-García ◽  
Álvaro S. Roco ◽  
Mónica Bullejos
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Differentiation ◽  
Sex Differentiation ◽  
Environmental Contaminants ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Sex Reversal ◽  
The Other ◽  
Effect Of Temperature ◽  
Amphibian Species ◽  
Expected Increase

The role of environmental factors in sexual differentiation in amphibians is not new. The effect of hormones or hormone-like compounds is widely demonstrated. However, the effect of temperature has traditionally been regarded as something anecdotal that occurs in extreme situations and not as a factor to be considered. The data currently available reveal a different situation. Sexual differentiation in some amphibian species can be altered even by small changes in temperature. On the other hand, although not proven, it is possible that temperature is related to the appearance of sex-reversed individuals in natural populations under conditions unrelated to environmental contaminants. According to this, temperature, through sex reversal (phenotypic sex opposed to genetic sex), could play an important role in the turnover of sex-determining genes and in the maintenance of homomorphic sex chromosomes in this group. Accordingly, and given the expected increase in global temperatures, growth and sexual differentiation in amphibians could easily be affected, altering the sex ratio in natural populations and posing major conservation challenges for a group in worldwide decline. It is therefore particularly urgent to understand the mechanism by which temperature affects sexual differentiation in amphibians.

scholarly journals Seasonal occurrence of some larval stages of endoparasites in three cyprinids from the Nwanedi-Luphephe dams, the Limpopo River System, South Africa

2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 229-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. M. Mbokane ◽  
J. Theron ◽  
W. J. Luus-Powell
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Stages ◽  
River System ◽  
Intestinal Wall ◽  
The Body ◽  
Seasonal Occurrence ◽  
Seasonal Fluctuations ◽  
Metazoan Parasites ◽  
Larval Stages ◽  
Parasite Communities ◽  
Third Stage

Abstract This study provides information on seasonal occurrence of developmental stages of endoparasites infecting three cyprinids in the Nwanedi-Luphephe dams, Limpopo River System. Labeobarbus marequensis (Smith, 1841), Barbus trimaculatus Peters, 1852 and Barbus radiatus Peters, 1853 were investigated seasonally from January 2008 to October 2008. The following larvae of metazoan parasites were collected: Diplostomum sp. from the eyes of L. marequensis and B. trimaculatus; Ornithodiplostomum sp. from the gills of B. trimaculatus; Posthodiplostomum sp. from muscle, skin and fins of B. trimaculatus and B. radiatus; third-stage Contracaecum larvae (L3) from the mesentery fats and on the liver lobes of L. marequensis and B. trimaculatus and gryporynchid cestode larvae from the outer intestinal wall of B. radiatus. All the flukes encountered were metacercariae. Diplostomum sp. and Contracaecum sp. dominated the parasite communities. Their prevalence exhibited seasonal fluctuations with maxima in summer. Factors likely to influence fish infection such as the body size of fish and their condition factors were also briefly considered in this study.

Developmental stages in the Digenea

Parasitology ◽  
1964 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elon E. Byrd ◽  
William P. Maples
Keyword(s):  
Body Wall ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Snail Host ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Movements ◽  
Hatching Enzyme ◽  
Apical Papilla ◽  
Short Time ◽  
Membranous Body ◽  
Egg Capsule

The naturally oviposited egg of Dasymetra conferta is fully embryonated and it hatches only after it is ingested by the snail host, Physa spp.Hatching appears to be in response to some stimulus supplied by the living snail. The stimulus causes the larva to exercise a characteristic series of body movements and to liberate a granular sustance (hatching enzyme) from the larger pair of its cephalic glands. This enzyme reacts with the vitelline fluid to create pressure within the egg capsule, and with the cementum of the operculum, so that it may be lifted away. The larva's escape from the shell, therefore, is due to a combination of pressure and body movements.The hatched larva has a membranous body wall, supporting six epidermal plates, an apical papilla, two penetration glands and a central matrix (the presumptive brood mass).It lives for about an hour within the snail and during this time there is a reorganization of the central matrix which terminates in the formation of an 8-nucleated syncytial brood mass.The miracidial ‘case’, consisting of the body wall and the epidermal plates, ultimately ruptures to liberate the brood mass. Once the brood mass is free it penetrates through the gut wall in an incredibly short time.

The Culture in vitro of Urogenital Organs of Pleurodeles waltlii

Development ◽  
1962 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 465-470
Author(s):  
Charles L. Foote ◽  
Florence M. Foote
Keyword(s):  
Organ Culture ◽  
Germ Cells ◽  
Culture Medium ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Rana Catesbeiana ◽  
Sex Differentiation ◽  
Organ Cultures ◽  
Tissue And Organ Culture ◽  
Pleurodeles Waltlii

Earlier reports (Foote & Foote, 1958a, b, 1959) describe growth and maintenance in vitro of larval organs, particularly gonads, of Rana catesbeiana and Xenopus laevis. Immature germ cells of both testes and ovaries are well maintained in vitro, especially if the culture medium is supplemented with watersoluble sex-hormonal substances, although germ cells in process of maturation become necrotic. Recently some urogenital organs from the salamander, Pleurodeles waltlii, have been grown in vitro. Tissues and organs from this amphibian might prove to be more suitable for tissue and organ culture investigations than those of Anurans. Animals at three different ages were used in this study: recently hatched larvae, metamorphosing animals, and adults. To determine whether sex differentiation would occur in vitro, trunk portions of young larvae of Pleurodeles waltlii of developmental stages 37–38 (Gallien & Durocher, 1957) were placed in organ cultures.

Transplantations de gonades indifférenciées chez l'hermaphrodite simultané Eisenia foetida (Oligochète, Lumbricidae)

Development ◽  
1973 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-161
Author(s):  
Par J. C. Relexans
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Sexual Differentiation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Simultaneous Hermaphrodite ◽  
Eisenia Foetida ◽  
Turn On ◽  
Opposite Sex ◽  
Adjacent Wall ◽  
Physiological Gradients ◽  
Different Parts

Transplantations of undifferentiated gonads in the simultaneous hermaphrodite Eisenia foetida (Oligochaeta, Lumbricidae) leading to evidence of local factors (inductors?) of sexual differentiation The hypothesis of a ♀ sex capable of autodifferentiation and of a ♂ sex depending on an androgen hormone has been verified in several gonochoric or hermaphrodite invertebrates. In order to test the validity of this hypothesis in the hermaphrodite Eisenia foetida we have investigated the influence of the gonads' environment on their differentiation by transplanting undifferentiated gonads, dorsally and ventrally, on different parts of the body. The gonads, taken with the adjacent wall of the body from new-born worms, are grafted on worms of the same age; some grafts do, others do not, retain their nervous system. The control transplantation in which a graft of a given presumptive sex is transplanted in a region of the same sex can lead to inversions. These inversions have a rare and short-lived character in the gonads coming from presumptive testes. They are more frequent and more or less durable in the gonads coming from presumptive ovaries. These results can only be explained by the existence, within the grafts of the two presumptive sexes, of a dominant relationship between one and the other sexual potentiality which can be momentarily inverted by trophic disturbances caused by the transplantation. The heterosexual transplantations, in which a graft of a given presumptive sex is transplanted in the region of the opposite sex, show that the frequency of the inversions is doubled in relation to the frequency obtained in the control transplantations. The inversions which occur in the presumptive testes can be lasting and even permanent. These results lead to the opinion that to the effects of transplantation is added an inductive action from the host, leading to masculinity in the ♂ region and femininity in the ♀ region. The transplantations outside of the sexual ventral regions lead to inversions of which the character and frequency recall those obtained in the control transplantations. They suggest that these regions are devoid of inductive sexualizing power. The very slight variations of frequency of the inversions observed along the antero-posterior and dorso-ventral axes can be explained by the existence of physiological gradients acting on the balance of the graft's own potentialities. The removal of the nervous system in the grafts shows that this system plays a part, probably trophic, in favour of the masculine potentialities of the graft. In conclusion, our experiments lead to the rejection of the hypothesis of the ♀ sex capable of autodifferentiation in Eisenia, in order to adopt that of a sexual balance between the ♂ and ♀ potentialities determining, according to their dominant relationship, the synthesis of ♂ or ♀ ‘inductors’ respectively in the ♂ and ♀ ventral regions. These inductors act in turn on the bipotential sexual cells.

scholarly journals Early ontogenesis of the angelfish, Pterophyllum scalare Schultze, 1823 (Cichlidae)

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 567-576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agata Korzelecka-Orkisz ◽  
Zuzanna Szalast ◽  
Dorota Pawlos ◽  
Izabella Smaruj ◽  
Adam Tañski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Artemia Salina ◽  
The Body ◽  
Pigment Cells ◽  
Alkaline Ph ◽  
Membrane Structures ◽  
Egg Membrane ◽  
Newly Hatched Larvae ◽  
Item Size ◽  
Pterophyllum Scalare

This study describes the egg membrane structures of angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare), morpho-physiological changes during angelfish embryogenesis from activation to hatching under optimal conditions (28°C; pH 6.8), the developing larvae and fry, the effect of alkaline pH on the early developmental stages of the species, the relationship between food item size and fry survival. Egg membranes (thin, transparent, 1.67-2.18 µm thick) are covered by a sticky substance. The amber-coloured angelfish eggs were oval in shape, with average diameters of 1.436 and 1.171 mm, i.e., a mean volume of 1.033 ± 0.095 mm³. The survival rate of embryos and larvae kept in water with an elevated, slightly alkaline pH was very low: as few as 2% of the embryos survived, while in the batch kept in optimal water conditions very few eggs died. The first larvae hatched after 1288 h of embryonic development. The newly hatched larvae measured on average 2.60 ± 0.093 mm and had large (0.64 ± 0.077 mm³) yolk sacs. They attached themselves to the substrate with a secretion of thin, viscous threads, which was released from glands situated on the top of the head. The glands vanished on day 5. The 1-day-old larvae showed the first pigment cells on the body and the eyes of the 2-day-olds were already fully pigmented. Between day 4 and 5 of larval life, the larvae began feeding on live food. The 23-day-old fry looked like a miniature versions of the adults. Mortality of the angelfish larvae during their first days after hatching was higher in those fed brine shrimp (Artemia salina) nauplii than those fed protozoans and rotifers.

The morphology of the British Prostriata with particular reference to Ixodes hexagonus Leach. II

Parasitology ◽  
1953 ◽  
Vol 42 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 161-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. R. Arthur
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
The Body ◽  
Dorsal Margin ◽  
Leg Length ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Attachment Sites ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Primitive Condition ◽  
Basis Capituli

The palps of all stages of Ixodes trianguliceps are provided with a ventral plate below the basal article; formerly this plate was thought to be the first palpal article. This article in the larva and nymph is produced forward into a spur, but in the female tick this spur is incorporated into the basis capituli as the sella. The hypostomes of I. trianguliceps and I. canisuga are redescribed to clear up existing inaccuracies.Ticks in which the rostrum does not extend beyond the apex of the first palpal article are found on birds, and this probably represents a primitive condition. Those with palpal spurs, which may or may not be fused with the basis capituli, are found on birds (not in Britain) or on mammals of the mouse size group, and those where the rostrum is produced beyond the first palpal article occur on a wide range of large and small animals. The longer and more heavily toothed digits of ticks appear to be associated with a wide host range and vice versa. The structure of the digit may also influence the choice of attachment sites by ticks on their hosts because the microstructure of the skin varies in different parts.Variations in size and form of the scuta of some British ticks are described, and the mean growth rate is ascertained from this data. The information shows that the material of I. ricinus and I. hexagonus is homogeneous, and that specific differences occur in size, shape, the position and type of dermal ducts and in the relation between scutal and alloscutal bristles.The morphology of Gené's organ in I. hexagonus is described. It consists of a basal sac-like portion surmounted by four horns and lined with a cuticle beneath an epithelium. The gland is a proliferation of the epithelium and located near the bifurcation of the base into the horns. A watery refractile fluid, secreted by the gland, accumulates between the epidermis and the cuticle in the horn-like extensions. Proximally the thick endocuticle and epidermis lie close together, and two cuticularized rods penetrate the endocuticle for about half-way along the stalk. The rods arise from the postero-dorsal margin of the basis capituli. Muscles, arising from the free ends of the rods, pass back to near the hind-margin of the scutum; they retract the basis capituli after egg laying and indirectly assist in the retraction of Gené's organ. A suggested mechanism for everting Gené's organ in I. hexagonus is outlined.During feeding the opisthosomatic cuticle of all developmental stages of the tick is much stretched. In the larva, where the cuticle is thin, this is effected by the flattening of the epicuticular pleats, but nymphs and females have, in addition, two longitudinal folds alongside the body which stretch to a far greater extent than do the epicuticular pleats. Similar folds are present between the hard ventral plates and the scutum and between the epimeral and median plates in the male. Coupled with the large size of the male digit, this suggests that morphologically, at least, males can imbibe blood.The growth of the leg segments of I. hexagonus is not constant from stage to stage, and as a result the shortest ‘leg-length’ of the female exceeds the longest ‘leg-length’ of the male.

Growth, development and allometry of Philophthalmus nocturnus in the eyes of domestic chicks

1992 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. G. M. Swarnakumari ◽  
R. Madhavi
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Adult Stage ◽  
The Body ◽  
Lag Phase ◽  
Allometric Growth ◽  
Body Width ◽  
Rapid Phase ◽  
Growth Development ◽  
Two Phases

ABSTRACTFifty day-old chicks were each infected with 10 excysted metaccreariae of Philophthalimus nocturnus Looss. 1907 around each orbit and growth, development and allometry were studied. The growth rate showed two phases over a period of 35 days, a limited lag phase lasting two days post-infection in which flukes did not exceed 440 μm in length, and a rapid phase during which growth was rapid and flukes reached a size of 3·008–3·504 mm on day 35. Five developmental stages were noticed during the course of development of the metacercaria to the egg-producing adult stage. Eggs appeared in the uterus on day 14 and oculate miracidia on day 25. The hindhody, testes and ovary showed positive allometric growth, the pharnyx less so, whereas negative allometric growth was shown by the forebody. Body width, oral sucker and ventral sucker were close to isometry, growing at the same rate as the body length.

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