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. 1971 Feb 1;48(2):266–279. doi: 10.1083/jcb.48.2.266

INTRAMITOCHONDRIAL YOLK-CRYSTALS OF FROG OOCYTES

I. Formation of Yolk-Crystal Inclusions by Mitochondria during Bullfrog Oogenesis

William H Massover 1
PMCID: PMC2108171  PMID: 5102556

Abstract

Electron microscope examination of thin sections of bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) ovarian oocytes has shown the presence of mitochondria containing yolk-crystal inclusions in oocytes of all sizes, from 160 to 1500 µ mean diameter. The hexagonally shaped yolk-crystals have major periodicities of 73.8 ± 10.7 A (n = 100). Several forms of modified mitochondria, observed in the smaller oocytes, may be arranged into a series of structurally intermediate forms between standard oocyte mitochondria and the typical mitochondria with yolk-crystal inclusions. The observation of such intermediate forms is consistent with proposals that the yolk-crystal inclusions arise within a limited portion of the oocyte chondriome by a complex process of mitochondrial differentiation.

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Selected References

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