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Spermiogenesis in the proteocephalidean cestode Proteocephalus torulosus (Batsch, 1786)

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Abstract

Spermiogenesis of the proteocephalidean cestode Proteocephalus torulosus (Batsch, 1786) was examined for the first time using transmission electron microscopy. Spermiogenesis begins with the formation of a distal cytoplasmic protrusion, a differentiation zone, at the periphery of the early spermatid. This differentiation zone is lined with cortical microtubules and contains two centrioles aligned along the same axis. Subsequently, each centriole is associated with the striated root and the intercentriolar body appears between them. A flagellar bud arises from each centriole, growing later as a free flagellum. Simultaneously, a median cytoplasmic process (MCP) develops distally to the flagella. The two flagella, which are of unequal length, become longer and rotate towards the MCP. At this stage, two arching membranes appear at the base of the differentiation zone. The nucleus elongates and when both flagella are fused with the MCP, the nucleus subsequently migrates into the MCP. Finally, the advanced spermatids detach from a condensing residual cytoplasm at the level of the arching membranes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Ladislava Nováková, Petra Masařová, Antonín Polák and Pavel Štengl for skilled technical assistance. This study was supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (projects nos. 524/01/1314 and 206/03/1317) and the Grant Agency of the Slovak Republik VEGA (project no. 2/1020/21). The authors are also indebted to the local organization of the Moravian Union of Fishermen in Ivančice near Brno, Czech Republic, for permission to take samples of fish from the Jihlava River, and to the Union's representative, Josef Melkus, for assistance in the field.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Parasitology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Branišovská 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    M. Bruňanská, J. Nebesářová & T. Scholz

  2. Parasitological Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Hlinkova 3, 040 01 , Košice, Slovak Republic

    M. Bruňanská

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  1. M. Bruňanská
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  2. J. Nebesářová
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  3. T. Scholz
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Correspondence to M. Bruňanská.

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Bruňanská, M., Nebesářová, J. & Scholz, T. Spermiogenesis in the proteocephalidean cestode Proteocephalus torulosus (Batsch, 1786). Parasitol Res 90, 318–324 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-003-0858-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-003-0858-x

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