Factors Involved in Spontaneous Discharge of Gonadal Germ Cells from Developing Gonad of 7-day-old Chick Embryos

Abstract

A series of experiments was conducted to elucidate the factor(s) involved in the spontaneous gonadal germ cells (GGCs) discharge from chick embryonic gonads. The developing gonads recovered from 7-day-old White Leghorn (WL) embryos were incubated for 1 h in Dulbecco’s phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) supplemented with Ca²⁺ and/or Mg²⁺ at temperatures of 4-42°C. The number of GGCs spontaneously discharged from gonads into PBS was negatively correlated with Ca²⁺ concentration and positively correlated with incubation temperature (P<0.05). Effects of Mg²⁺ on spontaneous GGCs discharge into PBS[-] was observed to be minimal (P>0.05). Gonadal germ cells discharged into PBS was observed when divalent cations in the medium were chelated using EDTA. In conclusion, it was revealed that spontaneous discharge of GGCs from gonad of 7-day-old chick embryo into PBS was primarily affected by Ca²⁺ concentration and incubation temperature.