The cellular envelope of oocytes in teleosts.

Structural and functional relationships between oocytes and their envelopes were studied by means of electron microscopy in several teleost species after injection of live fish with horseradish peroxidase. The marker first appeared in the capillaries and the pericapillary spaces of the ovarian stroma. It then entered the collagen-filled spaces between the granulosa and theca cells; these spaces are in direct connection with the pericapillary spaces. The marker penetrated between the follicle cells and into the channels of the zona radiata surrounding the microvilli which traverse these channels. The marker was never found inside the microvilli or in the follicle cells; finally, it reached the surface of the oocytes and was internalized via micropinocytosis. Six stages in the course of folliculogenesis were observed, determined by (1) the formation of follicular and thecal cellular layers and a collagen-filled space between them, (2) the development of microvilli of oocytal and follicular origin, (3) the differentiation of the vitelline envelope and the pore channels, (4) pinocytotic activity of the oocytes, and (5) rapid growth of the oocyte and its envelopes during vitellogenesis.