Summary
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1.
The transformation of the two mitochondrial nebenkern derivatives, characteristic for D. melanogaster, hydei and bifurca, into rod-shaped, dense bodies is described.
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2.
After application of the negative staining procedure with PTA to intact, non-motile sperm, the rod-shaped bodies reveal a macromolecular architecture of a regular paracrystalline pattern. They are regularly cross-striated with an average period of 260 Å in D. melanogaster, 320 Å in D. bifurca and 300 and 400 Å respectively in D. hydei. X/0 sperms in D. melanogaster occasionally show a period of 100 Å only. The limited variability of the periodicity can be explained either as preparational artifact or as result of a multiplication of a smaller fundamental period or both.
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3.
The rod-shaped bodies of motile sperm show characteristic modifications of the paracrystalline pattern and periodicity. Spermatozoa can be divided into two groups with homomorphic or heteromorphic rod-shaped bodies.
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4.
Vital staining with Janus green demonstrates the participation of respiratory proteins in the formation of these bodies. Extraction experiments for paramyosin and myosin gave negative results.
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5.
These rod-shaped bodies may function as a reservoir of respiratory proteins and/or as stabilizing elements for the extremely elongated spermatozoa in the genus Drosophila (6,6 mm in D. hydei). The rod-shaped bodies of Drosophila represent an extreme, special case of the wide spread phenomenon of total or partial transformation of mitochondrial nebenkern derivatives into paracrystalline structures.
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Herrn Prof. Dr. O. Pflugfelder zum 60. Geburtstag.
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Meyer, G.F. Die parakristallinen Körper in den Spermienschwänzen von Drosophila . Zeitschrift für Zellforschung 62, 762–784 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00342183
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00342183