Summary
During epididymal transit, a fibre network and an array of vesicles develop in the posterior two-thirds of the midpiece in sperm of the Brush-tailed possum, Trichosurus vulpecula. The fibre network is developed by the time the sperm reach the corpus epididymidis, and is composed of evenly spaced, helically arranged fibres lying immediately beneath the plasma membrane. The angle of these fibrous helices is always counter to that of the underlying mitochondrial helix. Separating the fibre network from the mitochondria is a layer of granular material which develops at the same time, and over the same length of the midpiece as the fibre network.
A somewhat tenuous fibre network is found between the fibrous sheath and plasma membrane in the anterior principal piece of sperm from all regions of the epididymis.
The array of vesicles is developed by the time sperm reach the cauda epididymidis. The vesicles resemble pinocytotic vesicles; some appear as invaginations of the plasma membrane, and are open to the medium surrounding the spermatozoon by a narrow neck, while others are entirely enclosed within the spermatozoon, and lie at varying distances between the plasma membrane and the layer of granular material.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bedford, J.M.: Report of a workshop: Maturation of the fertilizing ability of mammalian spermatozoa in the male and female reproductive tract. Biol. Reprod. II, 346–362 (1974)
Bedford, J.M., Calvin, H.I.: Changes in -S-S- linked structures of the sperm tail during epididymal maturation, with comparative observations in sub-mammalian species. J. exp. Zool. 187, 181–204 (1974)
Biggers, J.D.: Reproduction in male marsupials, Symp. zool. Soc. Lond. 15, 251–280 (1966)
Calvin, H.I., Bedford, J.M.: Formation of disulphide bonds in the nucleus and accessory structures of mammalian spermatozoa during maturation in the epididymis. J. Reprod. Fertil. Suppl. 13, 65–75 (1971)
Cleland, K.W.: Electron microscopic structure of the Dasyuroid sperm. J. Anat. (Lond.) 99, 953 (Abstract) (1965)
Cleland, K.W., Lord Rothschild: The bandicoot spermatozoon: and electron microscope study of the tail. Proc. roy. Soc. B 150, 24–42 (1959)
Fawcett, D.W.: A comparative view of sperm ultrastructure. Biol. Reprod., Suppl. 2, 90–127 (1970)
Friend, D.S., Fawcett, D.W.: Membrane differentiations in freeze-fractured mammalian sperm. J. Cell Biol. 63, 641–664 (1974)
Holstein, A.F.: Elektronenmikroskopische Untersuchungen am Spermatozoon des Opossum (Didel-phys virginiana Kerr). Z. Zellforsch. 65, 904–914 (1965)
Koehler, J.K., Gaddum-Rosse, P.: Media induced alterations of the membrane associated particles of the guinea pig sperm tail. J. Ultrastruct. Res. 51, 106–118 (1975)
Olson, G.: Observations on the ultrastructure of a fiber network in the flagellum of sperm of the Brush tailed Phalanger, Trichosurus vulpecula. J. Ultrastruct. Res. 50, 193–198 (1975)
Orgebin-Crist, M.C.: Studies on the function of the epididymis. Biol. Reprod. Suppl. I, 155–175 (1969)
Phillips, D.M.: Ultrastructure of spermatozoa of the Woolly Opossum Caluromys philander. J. Ultrastruct. Res. 33, 381–397 (1970)
Phillips, D.M.: Spermiogenesis. Academic Press: New York 1974
Sapsford, C.S., Rae, C.A.: Ultrastructural studies on Sertoli cells and spermatids in the bandicoot and ram during the movement of mature spermatids into the lumen of the seminiferous tubule. Aust. J. Zool. 17, 415–445 (1969)
Sapsford, C.S., Rae, C.A., Cleland, K.W.: Ultrastructural studies on maturing spermatids and on Sertoli cells in the bandicoot Perameles nasuta Geoffroy (Marsupialia). Aust. J. Zool. 17, 195–292 (1969)
Sapsford, C.S., Rae, C.A., Cleland, K.W.: Ultrastructural studies on the development and form of the principal piece sheath of the bandicoot spermatozoon. Aust. J. Zool. 18, 21–48 (1970)
Stanley, H.P.: Fine structure of spermiogenesis in the Elasmobranch fish Squalus suckleyi. II. Late stages of differentiation and structure of the mature spermatozoon. J. Ultrastruct. Res. 36, 103–118 (1971)
White, I.G.: Biochemical aspects of spermatozoa and their environment in the male reproductive tract. J. Reprod. Fertil., Suppl. 18, 225–235 (1973)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance of Miss Dianne Higginbotham of the Electron Microscope Unit, University of Sydney for expert assistance with the scanning electron microscopy. Also to Dr. D.J.H. Cockayne, Director of the Electron Microscope Unit, for use of the transmission electron microscope facilities.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Harding, H.R., Carrick, F.N. & Shorey, C.D. Ultrastructural changes in spermatozoa of the Brush-tailed possum, Trichosurus vulpecula (Marsupialia), during epididymal transit. Cell Tissue Res. 164, 121–132 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00221699
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00221699