The continuity of the germ cells in the urodele, Plethodon cinereus (Green)

Abstract Plethodon cinereus is favorable for a study of the history of the germ line. The germ cells are large, while the gonads are small and show an almost diagrammatic structure. Germ cell degeneration is not extensive during ontogeny. As long as all the germ cells contain yolk during development, these cells are derived solely from germ cells. In Plethodon, yolk lasts in all germ celis through sex differentiation. A comparison of the number of mitoses necessary for the primordial germ cells to produce the numbers of germ cells in gonads where every germ cell contains yolk, with the mitoses necessary for the primordial cells to produce the adult complements of germ cells, shows that at least 72% of the increase of germ cells can be followed by yolk. A cytological study from the embryo through the adult sexual cycle gave no evidence that somiatic cells ever transform into germ cells. Mitoses are abundant in the testes of salamanders starved 4 months. This fact together with a statistical study on the adult male sexual cycle indicates that the germ cells present in the testis do not need to be augmented by transformed somatic cells. It is concluded that in Plethodon germ cells alone give rise to germ cells, and that the germ line is continuous.