EXPERIMENTAL-EVIDENCE OF A DUAL ENDOCRINE CONTROL OF BIOSYNTHESIS IN THE MAIN NIDAMENTAL GLANDS OF SEPIA-OFFICINALIS L BY FACTORS FROM THE CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM AND THE OVARY

1. A rapid, reliable and quantitative in vitro bioassay was developed to study the endocrine control of the biosynthesis of the egg capsule: incorporation of C-14-labelled D-glucose in polysaccharides and glyco proteins increased in dispersed-cell suspensions of main nidamental gl ands from maturing females 2. Brain, optic lobes (OL) and ovary extrac ts from mature and maturing females stimulated the incorporation of C- 14-labelled D-glucose in polysaccharidic and glycoproteic fractions of a nidamental cell suspension, whereas optic gland (OG) had no effect. 3. These results bring the first experimental evidence that one of th e spawning events (egg-capsule edification) is controlled by the centr al nervous system and the ovary in a cephalopod.