[Study of the synthesis of vitellogenin in intersexual males of Armadillidium vulgare Latreille (oniscoid isopod crustacean): comparison with males and with intact or ovariectomized females].
In some natural populations of Armadilidium vulgare, intersex animals are genetic males which are feminized by maternally transmitted symbiotic bacteria. In these intersex males (iM) the fat body synthesizes vitellogenin, although their gonads are testes with hypertrophied--but nonfunctional--androgenic glands. Vitellogenin is present in the hemolymph of males changed experimentally into iM 90 days after inoculation of the feminizing bacteria. During the molting cycle, vitellogenin synthesis in iM varies as in ovariectomized females or in vitellogenic females, with a peak at the stage D1." In A. vulgare, vitellogenin synthesis is a neutral character since it can be observed in a genetic male or in an ovariectomized female; however, it is inhibited by the androgenic hormone. In intersex males, vitellogenin synthesis is the result of their refractoriness to androgenic hormone.
D000818:Animals; D003445:Crustacea / Q000378:metabolism*; D057850:Hermaphroditic Organisms; D019849:Sex Determination Processes; D014819:Vitellogenins / Q000096:biosynthesis*
D014819:Vitellogenins
Etude de la synthèse de la vitellogénine chez les mâles intersexués d'Armadillidium vulgare Latreille (Crustacé Isopode Oniscoïde): comparison avec les mâles et les femelles intactes ou ovariectomisées.