Histogenesis of the forestomach of red Sokoto goats

Abstract

Data are presented on the prenatal development of the forestomach of red Sokoto goats. Three stages of fetal development were studied by gross and light  microscopy techniques. The findings demonstrate that the primordia of all the components of the forestomach were present at 39 days of gestation. The mucosal surfaces of the rumen were smooth and later became granular at 30 and 96 days of gestation, respectively. Granules were observed on the mucosal surface of the omasum at 95 days of  gestation. The rumen, reticulum and omasum differentiated into epithelium, blastemic tissue and serosa at 40 days of gestation. The epithelium of the entire forestomach consisted of superficial stellate cells and basal globus shaped cell layers at 53 days. The underlying bastemic tissue differentiated into disorganized arrays of myoblastic tissues at about 53 days. The primordia of the ruminal papillae appeared as protuberances of the stratum basale at 53 days. The ruminal papillae progressively increased in dimension with advance in age of the fetus. Reticular ribs were first observed on the mucosa of the reticulum at 65 days of  gestation. In the reticulum, the lamina propria and submucosa were poorly demarcated throughout the study. The myoblastic tissues differentiated into isolated muscle bundles at the tips of the primary reticular folds at 124 days of gestation. Reticular cells were observed first at 145 days of gestation. Omasal leaves were first identified at 120 days. The forestomach of this goat differentiated earlier and developed faster than most of the other breeds.

Keywords: Red Sokoto goat, Histogenesis, Omasum, Reticulum, Rumen