Influence of Temperature on the Histological Evolution of the Ovotestis of Cepea nemoralisL.

Abstract

THE conditions which determine the differentiation of indifferent gonocytes in hermaphrodite glands, either in the male or the female direction, constitute a major problem in the biology of sexuality. Ancel¹ showed in 1902 that in the ovotestis of pulmonates the differentiation of germinal cells was independent of the gonocytes, but depended on the appearance of nutritive cells. Ancel remarks : “Une cellule progerminative indifférente deviendra mâle ou femelle suivant les conditions qu'elle rencontre dans la glande génitale au moment de son apparition, conditions réglées par la transformation d'un certain nombre de cellules épithéliales en éléments nourriciers élaborateurs d'un matériel spécial”. But experiments with undifferentiated strains of Rana fusca and Rana sylvatica (Witshi, Piquet^2,3) have indicated that several factors, and more especially temperature, can condition gametogenesis.