Summary
Testes of the pond snail, Cipangopaludina malleata Reeve, were fixed in 1% osmium tetroxide, 3% permanganate, or 4% formaldehyde followed by 1% osmium tetroxide, each being buffered to pH 7.2 with Veronal-acetate or Sörensen's phosphate buffer. On the other hand, testes fixed with 4% formaldehyde adjusted to pH 7.2 with 0.075 M Na-cacodylate were incubated in Novikoff-Goldfischer medium for demonstrating thiamine pyrophosphatase, uridine or inosine diphosphatase, uridine monophosphatase or adenosine triphosphatase. The specimens incubated were postfixed in 1% osmium tetroxide buffered to pH 7.2 with Veronal-acetate buffer. Thin sections of the epoxy Epon resin-embedded tissue were stained either singly with saturated aqueous uranyl acetate or doubly with saturated aqueous uranyl acetate followed by lead citrate.
In a concentric lamellar structure consisting of the granular endoplasmic reticulum in the cytoplasm of early atypical spermatids, disappearance of ribosomes attached to the outer surface of cisternae seems to have initiated at the central part of the structure, and the cisterna-attached ribosomes seem to participate in the formation of dense granules appearing in the vesicles representing the endoplasmic reticulum of atypical spermatids.
The Golgi apparatus of the atypical spermatids in the advanced stages of development is composed of at least three different layers, the central part consisting of an amorphous material, the following lamellar and vesicular elements, and the peripheral fine vesicles.
It has been assumed that the mechanism by which the nucleic acid, especially DNA is converted into the polysaccharide might be attributed to the function of the Golgi apparatus, because the transformation of dense granules into less dense granules as well as diphosphatase activities have been detected within the Golgi apparatus.
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This study was supported by Grant GM-8327-06 from the United States Public Health Service.
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Yasuzumi, G., Lee, K.J., Fukui, H. et al. Spermatogenesis in animals as revealed by electron microscopy. Zeitschrift für Zellforschung 80, 353–369 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00339328
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00339328