Summary
The ultrastructure of the sea urchin spermatozoon has been studied by means of electron microscopy in ultra-thin sections prepared according to the technique of Sjöstrand.
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1.
A cellmembrane covers the spermatozoon completely; it is a double membrane with a total thickness of 100 Å units.
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2.
In the acrosomal region there is a particle—diameter 0.24 μ—and under this a cave filled with a less osmiophilic substance. In some Strongylocentrotus spermatozoa there is a vacuole near the bottom of this cave, it is divided into two parts, its walls measure around 200 Å, and its dimensions are about 0.1×0.2 μ.
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3.
The nucleus has a few small spaces with nucleoplasm within a rather homogeneous mass of irregular particles with a mean size of 95 Å. The nuclear membrane is double and has a thickness of 140 Å.
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4.
The middle piece is filled with mitochondrial double membranes of 190 Å; these are parallel with each other, but otherwise with random orientation. No division of the middle piece to subunits has been found.
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5.
The centriole is at the anterior end of the tail, located in a depression of the posterior part of the nucleus; it appears as a curved disk with a diameter of 0.15 μ.
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6.
Eleven filaments start at the centriole, there are two central ones which appear as single circular tubuli, there are nine peripheral ones, which appear as doublets or even triplets, with each unit having a diameter smaller than that of the central filaments. All filaments follow a straight course, have no striations and are not surrounded by helicoidal sheats. These findings are discussed together with current theories regarding sperm tail and cilia movement.
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7.
The tail end consists of the cell membrane and often single filament units formed by the more proximal forking of some filament doublets.
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Afzelius, B.A. The fine structure of the sea urchin spermatozoa as revealed by the electron microscope. Zeitschrift für Zellforschung 42, 134–148 (1955). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00335087
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00335087