Ultrastructural patterns of the flagellar axoneme in the non-motile part of the mole-cricket sperm

Abstract

The mole-cricket spermatozoon (Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa) has a motile anterior tail region and an immotile posterior region. The posterior portion appears stiff and its microtubular doublets and central singlet microtubules are swollen, apparently due to an excess of material within them. In particular, doublet number 6 is of an unusually large size. The general organization of the axoneme is also modified by a loss of dynein arms and spokes in the posterior portion. When studied by a fixation technique that involves tannic acid to outline the protein molecules and PA-TCH-Ag method for staining polysaccharides it could be seen that the microtubular doublets and accessory microtubules contain rounded globules surrounded by polysaccharides. The arrangement of protofilaments within the microtubular walls is visible both in the anterior tail region with normal doublets and in the posterior region with degenerated doublets.