Gonocytes are the precursors of spermatogonia that differentiate in the testis from primordial germ cells around week 7 of embryonic development and exist up until the postnatal period, when they become spermatogonia.[1] Despite some uses of the term to refer to the precursors of oogonia, it was generally restricted to male germ cells.[1][2] Germ cells operate as vehicles of inheritance by transferring genetic and epigenetic information from one generation to the next. Male fertility is centered around continual spermatogonia which is dependent upon a high stem cell population. Thus, the function and quality of a differentiated sperm cell is dependent upon the capacity of its originating spermatogonial stem cell (SSC).[3]
^Culty, Martine (2009). "Gonocytes, the forgotten cells of the germ cell lineage". Birth Defects Research Part C: Embryo Today: Reviews. 87 (1): 1–26. doi:10.1002/bdrc.20142. PMID19306346.
^Loebenstein, Moshe; Thorup, Jorgen; Cortes, Dina; Clasen-Linde, Erik; Hutson, John M; Li, Ruili (2019). "Cryptorchidism, gonocyte development, and the risks of germ cell malignancy and infertility: A systematic review". Journal of Pediatric Surgery. 55 (7): 1201–1210. doi:10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2019.06.023. ISSN0022-3468. PMID31327540. S2CID198134800.