Abstract
The vectorial capacity of Aedes aegypti is directly influenced by its high reproductive output. Nevertheless, females are restricted to a single mating event, sufficient to acquire enough sperm to fertilize a lifetime supply of eggs. How Ae. aegypti is able to maintain viable spermatozoa remains a mystery. Male spermatozoa are stored within either of two spermathecae that in Ae. aegypti consist of one large and two smaller organs each. In addition, each organ is divided into reservoir, duct and glandular portions. Many aspects of the morphology of the spermatheca in virgin and inseminated Ae. aegypti were investigated here using a combination of light, confocal, electron and scanning microscopes, as well as histochemistry. The abundance of mitochondria and microvilli in spermathecal gland cells is suggestive of a secretory role and results obtained from periodic acid Schiff assays of cell apexes and lumens indicate that gland cells produce and secrete neutral polysaccharides probably related to maintenance of spermatozoa. These new data contribute to our understanding of gamete maintenance in the spermathecae of Ae. aegypti and to an improved general understanding of mosquito reproductive biology.
Highlights
Aedes aegypti is the most important vector of dengue and urban yellow fever viruses, due in some measure to the high reproductive output of Ae. aegypti females
Light microscopy - Ae. aegypti female has three spermathecae, one large and two small, that are visible under the light microscope in both virgin and in inseminated females
The Ae. aegypti spermatheca is formed by three individual reservoirs, a large (100 μm in diameter) and two smaller (75 μm in diameter). This is similar to what is seen in Ae. albopictus (Barreto et al 2008) and Culex sp. (GF Martins, unpublished observations) and distinct from Anopheles gambiae, which display a single spermatheca (Klowden & Chambers 2004)
Summary
Aedes aegypti is the most important vector of dengue and urban yellow fever viruses, due in some measure to the high reproductive output of Ae. aegypti females In spite of such high output, Ae. aegypti females are restricted to a single mating event, sufficient to acquire enough sperm to fertilize a lifetime supply of eggs (Rogers et al 2008). We combined histology, histochemistry and microscopy approaches to reveal general and detailed aspects of Ae. aegypti spermathecae morphology, including cell composition and nuclear size. The morphology of the spermathecae, as well as the morphometry and the number of gland cells and their cytoskeleton, do not differ between unmated to mated Ae. aegypti females, showing that just the organ filling by male gametes is online | memorias.ioc.fiocruz.br
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