[Ultrastructural study of the piriform cells of the ovarian follicle in 5 reptiles].

In the 5 Lacertilians the cytoplasm of the pyriform cells contains numerous mitochondria, a well developed Golgi apparatus, free ribosomes, glycogen-like particles, annulate lamellae, bundles of microfilaments and microtubules. Both the paracrystalline arrangement of ribosomes in Lacerta muralis and Lacerta viridis and the paracrystalline intramitochondrial inclusions in Anguis fragilis observed during the spring are probably related to hibernation. Each pyriform cell is connected to the oocyte by a cytoplasmic bridge which occurs secondarily between the two types of cells. Therefore the pyriform cells and oocyte constitute a syncytium. It is possible that the cytological similarities between the pyriform cells and the oocyte and the degeneration of the pyriform cells result from this syncytial state. The nucleoi do not have the same ultrastructure in the 5 Lacertilians; differences are noted in the dense fibrillar constituant and the composition of the nucleolus varies. The "paranucleolar body" is present in 4 Lacertilians but absent in Lacerta muralis.