SOMA AND GERM COLLABORATION. “Importantly, development of male and female gametes does not occur in isolation. The formation of meiocytes, gametophytes, and gametes requires the active presence of neighboring helper cells. Recent data on the interaction between reproductive cell lines and these largely somatic helper populations highlight not only the complexity of this relationship and the significance of the events it regulates but also its two-way nature.”
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1534580713000427