The time course of male meiosis in the red-backed salamander, Plethodon cinereus.
Tritiated-thymidine autoradiography was used to follow the progress of cells through meiosis in male P. cinereus at 20 degrees C. Spermatocytes spend 7 days in leptotene, 5 days in zygotene and 3 days in pachytene before entering the diffuse stage. Diffuse lasts for 8 days and is followed by a diplotene of 2 days. First and second meiotic metaphase occur a total of 26 days after the end of premeiotic S. Considering the information for P. cinereus together with that for 3 other species, it appears that in amphibians the duration of meiosis does not show the linear relation with C-value that has been described for other groups of organisms.
D000818:Animals; D001345:Autoradiography; D008297:Male; D008540:Meiosis; D013090:Spermatocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000166:cytology*; D013936:Thymidine / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors; D014562:Caudata / Q000502:physiology*
D013936:Thymidine