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Sperm Bundles in the Seminal Vesicles of Sexually Mature Lasius Ant Males

In many insects, sperm cells are produced in bundles with their heads being held together by a glycoprotein matrix secreted by a cyst cell. Mature sperm cells in the seminal vesicles are usually free, but in sawflies and several other insects, such structures (spermatodesmata) remain intact and sper...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Burnett, William E., Heinze, Jürgen
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3966874/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24671307
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0093383
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author Burnett, William E.
Heinze, Jürgen
author_facet Burnett, William E.
Heinze, Jürgen
author_sort Burnett, William E.
collection PubMed
description In many insects, sperm cells are produced in bundles with their heads being held together by a glycoprotein matrix secreted by a cyst cell. Mature sperm cells in the seminal vesicles are usually free, but in sawflies and several other insects, such structures (spermatodesmata) remain intact and sperm cells may be ejaculated as bundles. Here we report the occurrence of spermatodesmata in mature males of the ant Lasius pallitarsis. Microscopic investigations of the abdominal contents of males immediately prior to their nuptial flights showed that the anterior ends of numerous sperm cells were embedded in an oval-shaped 20 by 30 micrometer extracellular fibrous cap. Individual sperm ranged in length from 55 to 75 micrometers with an average overall length of 65 micrometers. The bulb-shaped heads of the sperm were relatively small, only about 1.5 micrometers in length and about 1.1 micrometers in diameter. The diameter of the sperm tails was approximately 1 micrometer. Observations of live preparations of the spermatodesmata showed increasingly active undulating wave-like movement of the sperm tails as the slide preparations aged. This appears to be the first case of sperm bundles being present in the seminal vesicles of mature ant males – males that are immediately poised to complete their nuptial mating flight.
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spelling pubmed-39668742014-03-31 Sperm Bundles in the Seminal Vesicles of Sexually Mature Lasius Ant Males Burnett, William E. Heinze, Jürgen PLoS One Research Article In many insects, sperm cells are produced in bundles with their heads being held together by a glycoprotein matrix secreted by a cyst cell. Mature sperm cells in the seminal vesicles are usually free, but in sawflies and several other insects, such structures (spermatodesmata) remain intact and sperm cells may be ejaculated as bundles. Here we report the occurrence of spermatodesmata in mature males of the ant Lasius pallitarsis. Microscopic investigations of the abdominal contents of males immediately prior to their nuptial flights showed that the anterior ends of numerous sperm cells were embedded in an oval-shaped 20 by 30 micrometer extracellular fibrous cap. Individual sperm ranged in length from 55 to 75 micrometers with an average overall length of 65 micrometers. The bulb-shaped heads of the sperm were relatively small, only about 1.5 micrometers in length and about 1.1 micrometers in diameter. The diameter of the sperm tails was approximately 1 micrometer. Observations of live preparations of the spermatodesmata showed increasingly active undulating wave-like movement of the sperm tails as the slide preparations aged. This appears to be the first case of sperm bundles being present in the seminal vesicles of mature ant males – males that are immediately poised to complete their nuptial mating flight. Public Library of Science 2014-03-26 /pmc/articles/PMC3966874/ /pubmed/24671307 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0093383 Text en © 2014 Burnett, Heinze http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Burnett, William E.
Heinze, Jürgen
Sperm Bundles in the Seminal Vesicles of Sexually Mature Lasius Ant Males
title Sperm Bundles in the Seminal Vesicles of Sexually Mature Lasius Ant Males
title_full Sperm Bundles in the Seminal Vesicles of Sexually Mature Lasius Ant Males
title_fullStr Sperm Bundles in the Seminal Vesicles of Sexually Mature Lasius Ant Males
title_full_unstemmed Sperm Bundles in the Seminal Vesicles of Sexually Mature Lasius Ant Males
title_short Sperm Bundles in the Seminal Vesicles of Sexually Mature Lasius Ant Males
title_sort sperm bundles in the seminal vesicles of sexually mature lasius ant males
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3966874/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24671307
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0093383
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