The prenatal development of the buffalo ovary

Abstract

At a gestational age of 3 mth, the ovaries appeared as oval or spindle shaped symmetrical thickenings just cranial to the anterior end of the differentiating Mullerian ducts and attached to the caudo lateral borders of the kidneys. The final pelvic position of the ovaries was reached by the end of the 6th mth and the right ovary was slower to descend than the left. At the 3rd mth of gestation, the gonads were at a late stage of differentiation. By the 4th mth, the germinal epithelium was invading the gonad to form epithelial cords and the rete ovarii was apparent. During the 5th mth, the ovarian stroma and the tunica albuginea became more organized and sex cords were seen invading the stroma. The formation of primordial follicles was still the characteristic feature in the ovaries of 6 mth old fetuses. During the 7th and 8th mth, the tunica albuginea reached its maximum thickness (200 μm) and the cells of the germinal epithelium became flattened. At the 9th and 10th mth, hormonal activity was indicated by the formation of vesicular follicles which became atretic. The ovary was more clearly divided into cortical and medullary zones and germinal cells were found only in the former.