Organization of the vitelline envelope in ovarian follicles of Torpedo marmorata Risso, 1810 (Elasmobranchii: Torpediniformes).

In Torpedo marmorata, the vitelline envelope (VE), an extracellular envelope surrounding the growing oocyte, consists of fibrils and amorphous materials that are deposited in the perivitelline space starting from the initial steps of oocyte growth. SDS-PAGE analysis of the isolated and purified VE reveals that it consists of different glycoproteins. Furthermore, our investigations showed that the 120 and 66 kDa glycoproteins are positive to an antibody directed against gp69/64 of the Xenopus laevis VE and are synthesized under the control of 17 beta-estradiol in the liver, that, together follicle cells and the oocyte, is the biosynthetic site of VE components. J. Exp. Zool. (Mol. Dev. Evol.) 312B:714-721, 2009. (C) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.