Large lamellar bodies and their role in the growing oocytes of the armadillo Chaetophractus villosus

Oogenesis in the armadillo Chaetophractus villosus, a representative species of a mammalian basal clade, was investigated by light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and immunohistochemical localization of keratin. At the beginning of the growth phase, oocyte follicles showed one, and sometimes several, large bodies composed of lamellae (multilamellar bodies [MLBs]), which entrap other cytoplasmic organelles at more advanced stages. Lamellae diameter is described in cross-section (37 nm) and tangential sections (50 nm). The MLB of early oocytes is most frequently located close to the nucleus. In large oocytes, both, this body and the free organelles are relocated at the oocyte periphery. The MLB grows from the primary follicle up to its full development at the follicular phase characterized by tall granulosa cells. Mitochondria, smooth small vesicles, and lipofuscin granules are trapped between lamellae. MLBs engage in the formation of different sets of organelles, both trapped and free ones. When oocytes are well developed and the zona pellucida is formed, the MLB is reduced to small remnants detected only by transmission electron microscopy. The MLB disintegrates when an antrum develops. Immunohistochemical localization techniques showed the presence of cytokeratin in the MLBs. This cytokeratin pool may be involved in the filament and desmosome formation found in the periphery of late oocytes.