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Structure and development of the spermatozoon of the parasitic nematode, Nematospiroides dubius

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

E. J. Wright  and
R. I. Sommerville
E. J. Wright*
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, S.A., Australia
R. I. Sommerville
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, S.A., Australia
*
*E. J. Wright, Department of Zoology, University of Adelaide, Box 498, G.P.O., Adelaide, South Australia 5001.
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Extract

Spermatogenesis and sperm maturation in Nematospiroides dubius were studied using electron microscopy. The testis is telegonic and germ cells in the zones of mitosis, growth and meiosis are connected by a central anucleate mass of cytoplasm, the rachis. The early part of spermatogenesis is dominated by the synthesis and growth of membrane-bound vesicles called membranous organelles, which originate from RER-associated Golgi bodies. Following meiosis the spermatids separate from the rachis and their chroinatin, which is no longer bounded by a nuclear envelope, condenses into an arrow-head shape and is extruded to form a tail-like structure. After insemination spermatozoa undergo a profound change called activation. The cytoplasmic region which was previously long and cylindrical becomes spherical and the membranous organelles which lined its perimeter fuse with the plasma membrane and become confined to the posterior hemisphere of the sperm, close to the nuclear tail. The anterior half of the sperm is devoid of organelles but contains many filaments organized into clumps and chains; this region being responsible for amoeboid locomotion of the sperm.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 90 , Issue 1 , February 1985 , pp. 179 - 192
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

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