Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, Vol s3-88, 353-366, Copyright © 1947 by Company of Biologists

The Cytoplasmic Components of Germ-cells during Spermatogenesis in the Domestic Fowl

¹ Department of Zoology, University of Edinburgh

1. The Golgi material of the male germ-cells of the domestic fowl is in the form of a localized body, composed of rods and granules which lie on the surface of the archoplasm.

2. During the maturation divisions the localized Golgi material breaks down and forms a number of granules and rods which become dispersed at the beginning of the metaphase. After each division the scattered Golgi elements reassemble in the daughter cells and become once more attached to the archoplasm.

3. After the formation of the acrosome the Golgi material migrates to the residual cytoplasm and, as the Golgi remnant, is eliminated.

4. Accessory bodies are present in the cytoplasm of the spermatocytes from both silver and chrom-osmium preparations; in the spermatids only argentophil bodies are identified. One argentophil accessory body ‘Golgi X’ is included in the neck region of the spermatozoon.

5. The acrosome is formed from the proacrosome; the latter originates within the archoplasmic vacuole inside the Golgi material of the spermatid. The acrosome occupies the anterior tip of the head of the spermatozoon, and is conical in shape.

6. The nuclear ring is present in the early stages of the metamorphosis of the spermatid; with the elongation of the nucleus it disappears.

7. The mitochondria are described during all the stages of spermatogenesis; their ultimate fate is the formation of the mitochondrial sheath of the middlepiece. This sheath often appears in the form of a spiral structure.

8. During the transformation of the nucleus a coiled stage is constant; this is due to the continuous elongation of the nucleus and lack of response from the cytoplasm. The head of the spermatozoon is an elongate worm-like structure.

9. Two centrioles are present in the spermatids of the domestic fowl. The axial filament originates from the two centrioles. The proximal centriole is attached to the posterior end of the head of the spermatozoon, while the distal centriole assumes the shape of a ring and marks the distal limit of the middlepiece.

10. A clear zone surrounds the posterior part of the nucleus of the late spermatid; this zone possibly takes part in the formation of the middle-piece.