Keimbahn determinants and continuity of the germ cells in Sphaerium striatinum (Lam.)

During oogenesis granular mitochondria become concentrated in the proximal portion of the oocyte and remain concentrated in the line of cells that gives rise to the germ cells. Two cells of characteristic structure, appearing at gastrulation one on either side in the mesoderm, contain this mitochondrial cloud. All functional germ cells seem to be lineal descendants of these two primordial germ cells. The cloud disappears during gonad formation, but reappears in oocytes of the next generation. Except during meiosis and fertilization the germ‐cell cycle is traceable from fertilized egg to sexual maturity. Details of meiosis and chromosome number were not ascertained. Capacity for producing germ cells in Sphaerium is traceable from a definite region in the egg to primordial germ cells through a localized cloud of mitochondria in the mature ovum and certain cells of cleavage stages. Mitochondria, therefore, serve as a Keimbahn determinant in the sense that they mark a region of oocyte cytoplasm destined for cytoplasm of primordial germ cells. They are not considered causal factors in production of germ cells, but are probably storage products persisting unused in the egg and in cleavage cells having lower metabolic rates. Disappearance of these mitochondria during gonad formation is explained by their dispersal among a number of cells and by their utilization in furnishing energy and material for production of new cells.