Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Dissection and Grading of Ovarian Development in Wild-Type Female Insects
Published on: July 14, 2023
Ultrastructural changes in female hepatocytes during ovarian maturation of Steindachnerina insculpta (Pisces:
V M A Ribeiro1, N Bazzoli, T A Maria
1Graduate Program in Zoology of Vertebrates, Pontifical Catholic University, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Abstract:
During gonadal maturation the females of Steindachnerina insculpta, a teleost of the Furnas reservoir, Minas Gerais, Brazil, show low hepatosomatic and high gonadossomatic indexes, suggesting possible transference of hepatic substances to the ovaries. In comparison to the resting phase, in the maturation/ mature one the hepatocytes show greater development of both smooth and rough endoplasmic reticula, increased electron density in the mitochondria, and glycogen scattered throughout the cytoplasm. In both resting and maturation/mature phases, the hepatic parenchyma contains melanomacrophagic centers that consist of degenerating cellular debris and are surrounded by capsules formed by cells, resembling fibroblasts, joined by desmosomes. No physiological relation of these centers with ovarian maturation was found.
Related Concept Videos
Oogenesis
Oogenesis
Each primary oocyte is surrounded by a layer of pre-granulosa cells, forming what is known...
Folliculogenesis
Ovarian Cycle
Ovaries
On the ovarian surface, a layer of cuboidal...
