Abstract
The present work reports novel findings in the toad testis using freeze-fracture techniques. Tight and gap junctions are observed in the nonfenestrated endothelial cells. Numerous gap junctions are present between interstitial cells. Sertoli-Sertoli junctional specializations in the toad are similar to those described in mammals although they appear to be less elaborate. The appearance of nuclear pores, in the seminiferous epithelium, ranges from a uniformly and apparently random distribution in Sertoli cells to large aggregations of closely spaced pores separated by free areas in the nuclear envelope of spermatocytes. Inasmuch as these features have also been described in mammals, the fact that they are present in amphibia might indicate that they represent a widespread pattern. Concomitantly with increasing chromatin condensation, nuclear pores diminish in round spermatids and seem to disappear in the more mature germ cells. The en face freeze-fracture views of annulate lamellae in the postnuclear cytoplasm and membranous features of the acrosome formation, flagellum, and undulating membrane of elongating spermatids are also described.
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