Ultrastructural events in horse gonadal morphogenesis

The establishment and sexual differentiation of the gonads of horse embryos were studied using high-resolution techniques. The most dramatic observation is the early cytodifferentiation of the somatic cells into steroidogenic cells which takes place before sexual differentiation of the gonads. A unique morphogenetic pattern is established during this process: the seminiferous cords of the testis are completely segregated from the steroidogenic tissue by a basal lamina, while in the medulla of the ovary, steroidogenic cells differentiate inside the epithelial cords which contain germ cells. This early difference in the topographical distribution of steroidogenic cells favours the hypothesis that the interactions between somatic and germ cells vary with the genetic sex. The possibility of finding qualitative differences in steroidogenesis before and during sexual differentiation of the gonad suggests the horse gonad as a good model for the study of the role of the steroid hormones in the sexual differentiation of the mammalian gonad.