Gonocyte

Gonocyte is a term created in 1957 by scientists Yves Clermont and Bernard Perey. Gonocytes relate to both fetal and neonatal germ cells from the point at which they enter the testis primordia until they reach the base membrane at the seminiferous cords and differentiate. It is responsible for gametogenesis, which is spermatogenesis in males and oogenesis in females. Gonocytes include gametogonia (spermatogonia and oogonia), oocytes, ootids, and ova. The overall structures of fetal and postnatal gonocytes are described as large and spherical, with a prominent nucleus and two nucleoli.

References

• Culty, M. (2013, June 19). "Gonocytes, from the Fifties to the Present: Is There a Reason to Change the Name?" Biol Reprod. 2013 Aug 29. 89(2):46. Retrieved October 27, 2014, from http://www.biolreprod.org/content/89/2/46.full
• Culty, M. (n.d.). "Gonocytes, the forgotten cells of the germ cell lineage." Birth Defects Research Part C: Embryo Today: Reviews, 87(1), 1-26. Retrieved November 7, 2014 from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1002/bdrc.20142/asset/20142_ftp.pdf?v=1&t=i276igh9&s=25f3a2b98ee823667b4e7acc7df9da1fbae3f0f4
• Clermont V & Perey B. "Quantitative study of the cell population of the seminiferous tubules in immature rats". Amer. J. Anal. 100:241-67, 1957. [Department of Anatomy, McGill University. Montreal. Canada. Retrieved November 7, 2014 http://garfield.library.upenn.edu/classics1987/A1987J148000001.pdf