Summary
In Drosophila melanogaster, the cyst cell that surrounds the head region of sperm bundle becomes spheroidal or ellipsoidal and is trapped by the terminal epithelium of the testicular wall during the synchronous coiling of sperm. Extensions of this cyst cell are projected caudally into the interspaces between sperm heads probably to anchor the heads. Coiling of sperm tails is initiated at the head region and proceeds by the progressive retraction of the linear portion from the apical testicular region into the coiled portion at the base. The addition of one turn of coil is accompanied by one full rotation of the sperm bundle. When coiled, normal tails are tightly packed into a hexagonal lattice, and minute tubular structures of about 150 Å in diameter occupy the space between them. Sperm with abnormal tails are separated from those with normal ones and isolated into a separate part of the cyst lumen. Acid phosphatase is involved in the dissolution of the minute tubules for the liberation of sperm from the cyst. Sperm are released leaving the major portion of the cyst cells intact. This portion contains degenerating abnormal tails and the waste products of the individualization process. This detritus is ingested by the terminal epithelium and eventually degenerates.
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This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (USPHS-HD 03015 and GM-15971) and a contract from the Atomic Energy Commission, AT(04-3)-34, P.A. 150.
Graduate training grant USPHS GM-00702.
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Tokuyasu, K.T., Peacock, W.J. & Hardy, R.W. Dynamics of spermiogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster . Z.Zellforsch 127, 492–525 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00306868
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00306868