Studies on the male meiosis of <i>Ellobius lutescen</i><i>s</i> Th.

Abstract

Studies were carried out on the male meiosis of <i>Ellobius lutescens</i>. The testicles of 29 male specimens were used for this purpose. Among 100 pachytene figures, 25 revealed an association between the sex vesicle and an autosomal bivalent of medium size, whereas in 75 figures the sex vesicle appeared as an isolated structure. The importance of this finding in relation to the proposed translocation of a segment of the Y chromosome to an autosome as well as the significance of this event in relation to a mechanism of sex determination in <i>E</i>. <i>lutescens </i>without zygote lethality is discussed.