MORTALITY, SIZE OF THE GONADS, AND ULTRASTRUCTURE OF PRIMORDIAL GERM-CELL IN CHICK-EMBRYOS TREATED WITH GAMMA-IRRADIATION OR INJECTED WITH DONOR CELLS

The effects of injection and/or gamma-irradiation prior to injection o n mortality, size of the gonads, and ultrastructure of primordial germ cell (PGC) were examined after 5 d of incubation. The mortality of em bryos injected with donor cells was significantly higher than that of control and irradiated embryos. All irradiated embryos were alive, alt hough their development was delayed compared to those not exposed to i rradiation. The size of the gonads of embryos injected with donor cell s were similar to those of control embryos, however, the size of the g onads in irradiated embryos was significantly smaller than those of co ntrol embryos. The number of PGC in the gonads was significantly decre ased by irradiation. There was no notable effect of irradiation or inj ection on the nuclei and cytoplasmic organelles in PGC.