Microspectral studies of neuroendocrine regulation of gametogenesis in mollusks

: An associated culture of nervous ganglia and gonads was used to study the gametogenesis neuroendocrine regulation in mollusks (Mytilus edulis L.). The state of oocytes was controlled by microspectral fluorescent analysis on slides stained with acridine orange. The object of investigations was Mytilus edulis L. collected in La Manch in April-May. A microspectrofluorimetrical investigation of samples was carried out in Pushchino. As a criterion of cell synthetic activity, the parameter alpha was used. Parameter alpha is the ratio of fluorescence intensities in the red (I640) and green (I530) regions of the visible spectrum: alpha = I640/I530. The results obtained showed that the nervous system realized the endocrine regulation of gametogenesis in mollusks. There was no normal development of oocytes in an isolated mantle culture. The development of oocytes in a tissue culture proceeds in a similar manner as in the gonads of the native organism in normal natural conditions only if the mantle tissue is associated either with all nervous ganglia or with the cerebral ganglion alone. It was found that the cerebral ganglion plays a key role in the neuroendocrine regulation of gametogenesis.