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Primordial germ cells are among the first lineages that are established in development [1] and they are the precursors for gametes. [2] It is thought that the process of primordial germ cell migration itself has been conserved rather than the specific mechanisms within it, as chemoattraction and repulsion seem to have been borrowed from blood cells, neurones, and the mesoderm. [1]
Cleavage in most animals segregates cells containing germ plasm from other cells. The germ plasm effectively turns off gene expression to render the genome of the cell inert. Cells expressing germ plasm become primordial germ cells (PGCs) which will then give rise to the gametes. The germ line development in mammals, on the other hand, occurs ...
Germ cell specification begins during cleavage in many animals or in the epiblast during gastrulation in birds and mammals. After transport, involving passive movements and active migration, germ cells arrive at the developing gonads. In humans, sexual differentiation starts approximately 6 weeks after conception.
In most tissues of mammals, on average, 70% to 80% of CpG cytosines are methylated (forming 5-mCpG). [24] In the mouse, by days 6.25 to 7.25 after fertilization of an egg by a sperm, cells in the embryo are set aside as primordial germ cells (PGCs). These PGCs will later give rise to germline sperm cells or egg cells.
The egg cell is generally asymmetric, having an animal pole (future ectoderm).It is covered with protective envelopes, with different layers. The first envelope – the one in contact with the membrane of the egg – is made of glycoproteins and is known as the vitelline membrane (zona pellucida in mammals).
These intra-cellular bridges promote germ cell communication and sharing of cytoplasmic constituents, and allow for synchronisation of mitotic divisions and entry into meiosis. They are required for fertility in male insects and mammals. In mammals, germ cells form syncytia of hundreds of germ cells interconnected by intercellular bridges. [7]
The hypoblast is a layer of cells in fish and amniote embryos. The hypoblast helps determine the embryo's body axes, and its migration determines the cell movements that accompany the formation of the primitive streak, and helps to orient the embryo, and create bilateral symmetry.
Germ cells are specified early in development [4] and can only differentiate into gametes. [5] The segregation of germ cells is often determined by the species, with some undergoing preformation, where the germ cells are determined by maternally inherited factors before or immediately after fertilisation, and others undergoing epigenesis, where the germ cell lineage is determined from ...