Summary
The multi flagellated sperm cells ofGinkgo biloba, differentiate within the pollen tube intra-ovularly in vivo. The sperm contain an anterior anti-clockwise spiral multi-layered structure (MLS) that is present in four of the grooves, and profiles vary in length from 15 μm in the center to < 5 μm in the outer grooves. The flagella show the typical 92 + 2 substructure. In about 5% of flagella, two of these 92 + 2 substructures occur within a single flagellar membrane, and up to 4 have been observed. The flagella are connected to the MLS through basal bodies, which have a long stellate transition zone terminating in the electron-opaque outer layer. This overlies the spline microtubules and an anterior fibrous lamellar strip. In transection, the MLS is terminated by paired fibrillar structures reminiscent of the blepharoplast.Ginkgo sperm cells contain numerous plastids and Golgi bodies, organelles that have not been reported from sperm of cycads.
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Li, Y., Wang, F.H. & Knox, R.B. Ultrastructural analysis of the flagellar apparatus in sperm cells ofGinkgo biloba . Protoplasma 149, 57–63 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01623983
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01623983