Figure 8. Morphogenesis of the fetal mouse ovary.

The dorsal face of the ovary is the center of action for most architectural changes during ovary morphogenesis. The cranial suspensory ligament (CSL, yellow), which tethers the ovary to the dorsal body wall, originally appears on the medial ridge of the ovary (blue). Throughout ovary morphogenesis, the cranial region of the oviduct (green), the infundibulum, remains linked to the original anterior pole of the ovary through their mutual attachment to the ligament. Ovary folding is associated with relocation of the infundibulum to the medio-ventral opening of the ovary. The relocation of the oviduct and infundibulum is driven by the dorsal expansion of mesonephric tissue (gray) to form the mesosalpinx and mesovarium. This process leaves the ovary fully encapsulated, with the ovarian capsule arising from the growth and fusion of the mesovarium and the mesosalpinx (gray). The developmental dynamics of the rete ovarii (red) follow the morphogenesis of the ovary, with the intraovarian and connecting regions closely associated with the ovarian domain throughout folding, and the extraovarian rete expanding within the developing ovarian capsule. Infund., infundibulum; MD, Müllerian duct; Meson., mesonephros; WD, Wolffian duct.