Abstract

AbstractEjaculated spermatozoa from Discoglossus pictus are grouped in bundles, where they are embedded in a network of interwoven threads. Their heads and tails move when exposed to the outermost egg jelly layer, when the bundles are spread across a glass slide or a poly‐L‐lysine‐coated polystyrene tissue culture dish. While moving, single spermatozoa emerge from the bundle and eventually become able to fuse with egg.Spermatozoa were studied by means of immunofluorescent staining, using specific antibodies against actin, myosin, and tubulin, and by means of electron microscopy. Antiactin antibodies stain both the heads and the ridge (which contains the axoneme) of the tail's undulating membrane. Antimyosin antibodies stain the head segment covered by the acrosome cap, and antitubulin antibodies stain the axoneme. The presence of actin and myosin in the spermatozoon head may provide the molecular basis for a cytoskeletal and/or a contractile system which could be involved in the motion sequence as well as subsequent steps of fertilization.

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