Scanning electron microscopy of the ovary in the house musk shrew, Suncus murinus.

Abstract

The structure of the house musk shrew (Suncus murinus) ovary, prepared by the Osmium-DMSO-Osmium method, was examined with a scanning electron microscope. Many ovarian follicles in various stages of development can be seen in the musk shrew ovary, but fully matured follicles (Graafian follicles) are never observed. In the inner layer of zona granulosa of the preantral follicles, the follicular cells containing a large amount of glycogen deposition in the cytoplasm are observed. Folded and collapsed zona pellucida surrounding the remnant of the degenerated oocyte, which is thought to be a residual form of atretic follicle, is observed in a small, crypt-like depression on the surface of the ovary where it has been split by cracking.