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A comparative study of sperm morphology, cytology and activation in Caenorhabditis elegans, Caenorhabditis remanei and Caenorhabditis briggsae

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Abstract

Studies of sterile mutants in Caenorhabditis elegans have uncovered new insights into fundamental aspects of gamete cell biology, development, and function at fertilization. The genome sequences of C. elegans, Caenorhabditis briggsae and Caenorhabditis remanei allow for informative comparative studies among these three species. Towards that end, we have examined wild-type sperm morphology and activation (spermiogenesis) in each. Light and electron microscopy studies reveal that general sperm morphology, organization, and ultrastructure are similar in all three species, and activation techniques developed for C. elegans were found to work well in both C. briggsae and C. remanei. Despite important differences in the reproductive mode between C. remanei and the other two species, most genes required for spermiogenesis are conserved in all three. Finally, we have also examined the subcellular distribution of sperm epitopes in C. briggsae and C. remanei that cross-react with anti-sera directed against C. elegans sperm proteins. The baseline data in this study will prove useful for the future analysis and interpretation of sperm gene function across nematode species.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Lisa Caiafa, Ken Irvine, Martha Soto, and members of the Singson Lab for helpful discussions, critical comments, and advice. We also wish to thank Sonia Zannoni for immunofluorescence assistance. The lab is supported by grants from the NIH (R01GM63089-01), Johnson and Johnson (Discovery Award), and the Charles & Johanna Busch Biomedical Fund. Additionally, Brian Geldziler received funding from NIH Biotechnology Training Grant (5T32GM08339). The Caenorhabditis Genetics Center provided some nematode strains and is funded by the NIH National Center for Research Resources (NCRR).

B. Geldziler, I. Chatterjee, and P. Kadandale contributed equally to this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics, Waksman Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA

    Brian Geldziler, Indrani Chatterjee, Pavan Kadandale, Emily Putiri & Andrew Singson

  2. Department of Pathology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA

    Rajesh Patel

Authors
  1. Brian Geldziler
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  2. Indrani Chatterjee
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  3. Pavan Kadandale
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  4. Emily Putiri
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  5. Rajesh Patel
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  6. Andrew Singson
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Correspondence to Andrew Singson.

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Communicated by D.A. Weisblat

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Geldziler, B., Chatterjee, I., Kadandale, P. et al. A comparative study of sperm morphology, cytology and activation in Caenorhabditis elegans, Caenorhabditis remanei and Caenorhabditis briggsae . Dev Genes Evol 216, 198–208 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-005-0045-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-005-0045-4

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