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Oogenesis and spermatogenesis in Paraleucilla magna (Porifera, Calcarea)

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Abstract

Gametogenesis in Calcarea is still poorly known; therefore, in this work, we describe the gametogenesis of Paraleucilla magna (Porifera, Calcarea) using light and electron microscopy. Male and female gametes derived from choanocytes. Oocytes grew inside a follicle-like structure composed of pinacocyte-like cells and choanocytes. They were nourished through nutrient transfer from nurse cells and through bacteria phagocytosis, which was never documented for a calcarean species. Mature oocytes were typical, spherical, with nucleolated nuclei and a cytoplasm filled with different types of inclusions and digestive vesicles. Nuage was also found. Spermatogenesis occurred in the lumen of differentiated choanocyte chambers, and spermatic cysts were never formed. Spherical spermatogonia without flagellum or collar were derived from hourglass-shaped primordial germ cells. Spermatozoa were of the ‘aberrant type’, showed a compact electron-dense nucleus and a homogeneous granulated body in its cytoplasm. The gametogenesis of P. magna is similar to what has been observed for other Porifera and Eumetazoa.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the staff of the Laboratório de Biologia de Porifera (IB/UFRJ) for helping in the collections of the specimens. We also thank the PROIM/IB/UFRJ, André L Rossi and Marcus Farina for the use of the microscope with digital camera, and Noêmia Rodrigues for her help in the use of the electron microscope. We are in debt to Inácio DS Neto for the borrowing of some fixatives, and Radovan Borojevic, Renato Ventura, Cristiano Coutinho, and the two anonymous reviewers for fruitful commentaries on the work. Grants and fellowships were provided by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) (E-26/111.541/2008), and the Brazilian National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq) (480368/2008 2).

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  1. Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 21941590, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Emilio Lanna & Michelle Klautau

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  1. Emilio Lanna
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  2. Michelle Klautau
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Correspondence to Michelle Klautau.

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Communicated by T. Bartolomaeus.

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Lanna, E., Klautau, M. Oogenesis and spermatogenesis in Paraleucilla magna (Porifera, Calcarea). Zoomorphology 129, 249–261 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00435-010-0117-5

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