Summary
The developing oocytes of the crab Cancer pagurus L. were studied with the light and electron microscope.
Protein yolk formation was found to take place in two different ways. Yolk precursors of type 1 accumulate within the cisternae of an extensively developed granular endoplasmic reticulum. Also further growth and transformation into the definite yolk body occur within the reticular membranes. There is no structural indication that any other cell organelle contributes to the synthesis of this type of yolk building.
Protein yolk formation of type 2 involves accumulation and transformation of material within a limiting membrane of the smooth type. The enclosed material is presumably derived from micropinocytosis, enclosed cellular elements and vesicles originating from the Golgi complex.
It thus appears that the cell organelles play an important role in the process of drotein yolk formation in the growing oocytes of Cancer pagurus.
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Eurenius, L. An electron microscope study on the developing oocytes of the crab Cancer pagurus L. with special reference to yolk formation (Crustacea). Z. Morph. Tiere 75, 243–254 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00401493
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00401493