Influence of donor age on development of gonadal tissue from pouch young of the tammar wallaby, Macropus eugenii, after crypreservation and xenografting into mice

Abstract

Ovaries from a marsupial, the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii), were grafted into a eutherian recipient at known stages of development to ascertain whether normal development would occur. Xenografted ovaries from pouch young < 20 days old, before the onset of meiosis, retained few germ cells and developed tubule-like structures reminiscent of seminiferous cords. Ovaries from 50-day-old pouch young, which contain primordial follicles, developed into antral follicles and corpora lutea within the eutherian host, and produced hormones that stimulated the reproductive tract of the host. The timing of onset of antrum formation and the progress of follicle development were advanced relative to the..