Summary
Histochemical reactions for lipids (Sudan Black) and for cholesterol (digitonine precipitation) were applied to gonads of chick embryos between seven and twelve days of incubation.
Both reactions were negative in seven day gonads, being positive in ovaries of eight days or more. They were localized in ovarian medulla. Interstitial tissue of testes stained positively with Sudan after the eighth day, while cholesterol did not appear in it until the tenth incubation day.
The positivity of these reactions at ages in which ovarian differentiation takes place, and in which the existence of feminizing substances has been demonstrated by other authors, gives support to the belief that estrogens are the inducers of ovarian differentiation.
The possible meaning of negative results obtained in eight and nine day testes has been discussed.
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This work was supported with a grant of the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Técnicas of Argentina. Dr. Sabatini worked under a fellowship of the same Institution.
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Narbaitz, R., Sabatini, M.T. Histochemical demonstration of cholesterol in differentiating chick gonads. Z. Zellforsch. 59, 1–5 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00321004
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00321004