Sperm competition between Drosophila males involves both displacement and incapacitation.

Females in almost all animal groups copulate with multiple males. This behaviour allows different males to compete for fertilization and gives females the opportunity to mediate this competition. In many animals and most insects, the second male to copulate with a female typically sires most of her offspring. In Drosophila melanogaster, this second-male sperm precedence has long been studied but, as in most species, its mechanism has remained unknown. Here we show, using labelled sperm in doubly mated females, that males can both physically displace and incapacitate stored sperm from earlier-mating males. Displacement occurs only if the second male transfers sperm to the female, and in only one of her three sperm-storage organs. Incapacitation can be caused by either fertile or spermless second males, but requires extended intervals between matings. Sperm from different males are not 'stratified' in the storage organs but mix freely. Many animal species may have multiple mechanisms of sperm competition like those observed here, and revealing these mechanisms is necessary to understand the genetic and evolutionary basis of second-male sperm precedence in animals.     

利用水生动物精子体外检测污染物毒性的研究进展

介绍了近几年来水生动物精子在实验生态学和细胞毒理学研究中的应用。用水生动物精子可检测水体中多种污染物的细胞毒性,为水体污染物预测、预告研究提供了新的方法。     

雷公藤多苷致大鼠精子畸形初步研究

目的 采用雷公藤(Tripterygium wilfordii)多苷灌胃造模,分析大鼠精子异常形态,详细描述大鼠精子异常形态类型,为研究大鼠精子畸形提供参考.方法 雄性成年SD大鼠,雷公藤多苷剂量为30 mg/kg灌胃,给药4周及8周后,分别取大鼠附睾精子,用Diff-Quik染色法,在光镜下行精子形态分析.结果 (1...     

Role for sperm in spatial patterning of the early mouse embryo

Despite an apparent lack of determinants that specify cell fate, spatial patterning of the mouse embryo is evident early in development. The axis of the post-implantation egg cylinder can be traced back to organization of the pre-implantation blastocyst. This in turn reflects the organization of the cleavage-stage embryo and the animal-vegetal axis of the zygote. These findings suggest that the cleavage pattern of normal development may be involved in specifying the future embryonic axis; however, how and when this pattern becomes established is unclear. In many animal eggs, the sperm entry position provides a cue for embryonic patterning, but until now no such role has been found in mammals. Here we show that the sperm entry position predicts the plane of initial cleavage of the mouse egg and can define embryonic and abembryonic halves of the future blastocyst. In addition, the cell inheriting the sperm entry position acquires a division advantage and tends to cleave ahead of its sister. As cell identity reflects the timing of the early cleavages, these events together shape the blastocyst whose organization will become translated into axial patterning after implantation. We present a model for axial development that accommodates these findings with the regulative nature of mouse embryos.     

A perspective on fish gonad manipulation for biotechnical applications

Fish make attractive candidates for conducting stud- ies in gene expression, regulation, function, and genetic modification, since they reach sexual maturity rela- tively quickly, are highly fecund, utilize an external fertilization strategy, develop exte…     

供精个体和异种动物精浆对小鼠精子介导转染外源基因效率影响的研究

目的探讨供精个体和异种动物精浆对小鼠精子转染外源DNA效率的影响,以探索精子作为外源基因的载体建立转基因小鼠的影响因素。方法从性成熟小鼠的输精管及部分附睾管中取出精子,用DIG免疫组化方法检测和比较精予转染效率,因素为供精个体和异种动物精浆。结果不同供精个体间转染效率存在一定差异,但有的个体问差异极显著（P〈0．01）,而有的个体间差异不显著：共孵育体系中异种动物精浆可显著降低转染效率（实验组与对照组分别为（8．6±1．7）％VS（51．3±5.3）％,P〈0．01）。结论小鼠供精个体和异种动物精浆可影响小鼠精予转染外源DNA的效率。     

非细胞体系中红鲤精核去凝集的影响因子研究

以红鲤(Cyprinus carpiored variety)鱼卵提取物为基础建立了非细胞体系,就非细胞体系的Ca2 、鱼卵的成熟程度、以不同温度处理脱膜精核等因子对体系中精核去凝集行为的影响进行了研究.结果表明,成熟的鱼卵适于制备非细胞体系,未成熟和过于成熟的鱼卵都不适宜;在非细胞体系中分别加入CaCl2,可微弱抑制脱膜精核的去凝集;不同温度处理精核对非细胞体系中脱膜精核发生去凝集的百分比有微弱的影响;热冷交替处理精核后精核的平均面积明显大于冷热交替处理和未经热冷或冷热交替处理精核的平均面积.     

Embryology: does prepatterning occur in the mouse egg?

A recurring question in developmental biology has been whether localized determinants play any role in mammalian preimplantation development. This is a controversial issue that brings back the idea of prepatterning and is explored further by Plusa et al., who claim it is the first cleavage of the mouse zygote that predicts the blastocyst axis, rather than the animal pole or sperm entry point, as previously suggested. However, other evidence indicates that the blasotcyst axis is not predetermined and there is no prepatterning in the mouse egg. Here we investigate the origin of these different views and conclude that they arise from differences in the data themselves and in their interpretation.     

Influence of high voltage static electric field on ultra-weak chemiluminescence of sheep semen

Ultra-weak chemilumincscence sent forth by animals’ organs, tissures and cell organs is discussed. It is indicated that if the ultra-weak chemiluminescrnce of an animal is high, its metabolism is exuberant, and its pregnant rate is high. A study of the influence of ligh volttlge static electric field on the luminescence of sheep sperm is carried out.     

Male mammals respond to a risk of sperm competition conveyed by odours of conspecific males

Sperm competition occurs when a female copulates with two or more males and the sperm of those males compete within the female's reproductive tract to fertilize her eggs. The frequent occurrence of sperm competition has forced males of many species to develop different strategies to overcome the sperm of competing males. A prevalent strategy is for males to increase their sperm investment (total number of sperm allocated by a male to a particular female) after detecting a risk of sperm competition. It has been shown that the proportion of sperm that one male contributes to the sperm pool of a female is correlated with the proportion of offspring sired by that male. Therefore, by increasing his sperm investment a male may bias a potential sperm competition in his favour. Here we show that male meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, increase their sperm investment when they mate in the presence of another male's odours. Such an increase in sperm investment does not occur by augmenting the frequency of ejaculations, but by increasing the amount of sperm in a similar number of ejaculations.     

张掖市污灌区大型土壤动物群落组成及其结构

2007年8-10月对张掖市清水灌溉区和污水灌溉区两种生境土壤动物进行了调查,共采集土壤动物1398个,隶属4门9纲18目.其中清灌区有474个,污灌区有924个.在污灌区土壤动物中优势类群为弹尾目,常见类群有双翅目幼虫、鞘翅目成虫、真蟎目、等翅目、缨翅目、涡虫、盲蛛目、鳞翅目、虫齿目、蜘蛛目、鞘翅目幼虫,其余类群为稀有类群.本文旨在对张掖市污水灌溉区土壤动物群落及其结构进行研究,阐明土壤动物的组成、结构和数量与污水灌溉的关系,揭示污灌区与清灌区大型土壤动物的分布的不同及污水灌溉对土壤动物分布的影响.     

Control of plant germline proliferation by SCF(FBL17) degradation of cell cycle inhibitors

Flowering plants possess a unique reproductive strategy, involving double fertilization by twin sperm cells. Unlike animal germ lines, the male germ cell lineage in plants only forms after meiosis and involves asymmetric division of haploid microspores, to produce a large, non-germline vegetative cell and a germ cell that undergoes one further division to produce the twin sperm cells. Although this switch in cell cycle control is critical for sperm cell production and delivery, the underlying molecular mechanisms are unknown. Here we identify a novel F-box protein of Arabidopsis thaliana, designated FBL17 (F-box-like 17), that enables this switch by targeting the degradation of cyclin-dependent kinase A;1 inhibitors specifically in male germ cells. We show that FBL17 is transiently expressed in the male germ line after asymmetric division and forms an SKP1-Cullin1-F-box protein (SCF) E3 ubiquitin ligase complex (SCF(FBL17)) that targets the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors KRP6 and KRP7 for proteasome-dependent degradation. Accordingly, the loss of FBL17 function leads to the stabilization of KRP6 and inhibition of germ cell cycle progression. Our results identify SCF(FBL17) as an essential male germ cell proliferation complex that promotes twin sperm cell production and double fertilization in flowering plants.     

动物精子发生及成熟过程中凝集素受体的分布与变化

对各种动物精子发生与成熟过程中生精细胞表面凝集素受体的变化做了综述 .精子发生过程伴随着不同凝集素受体的出现和变化 ,这些受体是由生精细胞自身合成的 ;精子在成熟过程中 ,质膜凝集素受体的合成、修饰及分布会进一步发生变化 ,这些变化与精子获得与卵子进行识别、粘附、结合等受精能力密切相关 .     

Exceptional sperm cooperation in the wood mouse

Spermatozoa from a single male will compete for fertilization of ova with spermatozoa from another male when present in the female reproductive tract at the same time. Close genetic relatedness predisposes individuals towards altruism, and as haploid germ cells of an ejaculate will have genotypic similarity of 50%, it is predicted that spermatozoa may display cooperation and altruism to gain an advantage when inter-male sperm competition is intense. We report here the probable altruistic behaviour of spermatozoa in an eutherian mammal. Spermatozoa of the common wood mouse, Apodemus sylvaticus, displayed a unique morphological transformation resulting in cooperation in distinctive aggregations or 'trains' of hundreds or thousands of cells, which significantly increased sperm progressive motility. Eventual dispersal of sperm trains was associated with most of the spermatozoa undergoing a premature acrosome reaction. Cells undergoing an acrosome reaction in aggregations remote from the egg are altruistic in that they help sperm transport to the egg but compromise their own fertilizing ability.     

慢病毒载体转染犬睾丸生殖细胞

摘要: 目的观察慢病毒载体( Lentiviral vector,LV) 对犬生殖细胞的转染,为基于LV 的精子介导法制备转基因动 物提供依据。方法采用睾丸打点注射法,向比格犬两侧睾丸分别注入滴度为5 × 108、1 × 108、2 × 107 TU /mL 的 慢病毒液组成3 个剂量组,每点注射量为每只犬0. 2 mL。于注射后第2 周开始采集精液,通过精液DNA 的PCR 检 测和精子荧光镜检评估绿色荧光蛋白( green fluorescent protein,GFP) 基因的整合及表达。结果1) 在高剂量组,整 合并表达GFP 基因的精子于第4 周首现并持续至第17 周; 在中、低剂量组于第5 周首现,分别持续到第14 周、12 周。2) GFP 表达的高峰期在注射后第7 周～ 10 周。3) GFP 表达于整个精子,以顶体后区和精子尾颈部表达最强。 4) 注射后第2 周～ 6 周,中剂量组犬采精困难,高低剂量组犬精子畸形率有上升的趋势。5) 在GFP 表达的高峰期, 绿色荧光精子的百分率在高、中、低剂量组分别为43. 33% 、35. 53% 和4. 55% ,具有明显的差异。结论基于LV 的 精子介导转基因法( Sperm-mediated gene transfer,SMGT) 可成功获得转基因犬精子,转基因阳性率、表达的强度与 持续时间与慢病毒滴度相关。     

食蟹猴少精弱精动物模型建立的研究

目的为了男性不育研究和药效试验,建立食蟹猴口服醋酸棉酚诱导的少精、弱精症动物模型。方法具有生育史的成年雄性食蟹猴6只,2只为正常对照,其余4只每天口服醋酸棉酚,给药剂量分别为4mg.kg-1d-1、8mg.kg-1d-1、12mg.kg-1d-1和20mg.kg-1d-1,连续90d;每15d采用阴茎电刺激采精进行精液分析;90d后进行睾丸和附睾的病理活检。结果每组服药动物在给药30d后精子总数、密度、活动度开始明显下降,到90d时精子密度均低于正常范围以下,除4mg.kg-1d-1剂量动物外,其余三个剂量的动物精子活动度均减弱并小于50%,达到了少精弱精症指标;8mg.kg-1d-1至20mg.kg-1d-1剂量动物精子的发生和成熟受到抑制,大剂量(20mg.kg-1d-1)给药对猴子睾丸有明显损伤作用。结论一定剂量的醋酸棉酚经口服给药能诱导食蟹猴形成不同程度少精弱精动物模型,少精弱精程度与服药剂量和时间长短有关。     

Complementarity between sperm surface beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase and egg-coat ZP3 mediates sperm-egg binding.

Despite its importance, the molecular basis of mammalian gamete recognition has remained unclear. The enzyme beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase (Gal-transferase) has been viewed traditionally as a biosynthetic component of the Golgi complex, but is also found on the surface of many cells where it can bind its specific glycoside substrate on adjacent cell surfaces or in the extracellular matrix. In mouse it has been suggested that Gal-transferase on the sperm head mediates fertilization by binding oligosaccharide residues in the egg coat, or zona pellucida, and that the ability of the zona pellucida to bind sperm is conferred by oligosaccharides of the ZP3 glycoprotein. However, it has not been confirmed that Gal-transferase and ZP3 are in fact complementary gamete receptors whose interaction mediates sperm-egg binding. Here we show that mouse sperm Gal-transferase specifically recognizes those oligosaccharides on ZP3 that have sperm-binding activity, but does not interact with other zona pellucida glycoproteins. In contrast, all zona pellucida glycoproteins are recognized by non-sperm Gal-transferase, demonstrating a more stringent substrate specificity for the sperm enzyme. This interaction is required for sperm-egg binding because blocking or removing the binding site for Gal-transferase on ZP3 inhibits its ability to bind sperm. After the release of the sperm acrosome, the transferase relocalizes to a new membrane domain where it can no longer bind to ZP3, which is consistent with the inability of acrosome-reacted sperm to bind ZP3 or to initiate binding to the zona pellucida. Following fertilization, ZP3 is modified by egg cortical granule secretions so that it loses sperm receptor activity, which can be accounted for by a selective loss of its binding site for sperm Gal-transferase. These results show that sperm surface beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase and the egg-coat glycoprotein ZP3 are complementary adhesion molecules that mediate primary gamete binding in the mouse.     

Transient activation of calcineurin is essential to initiate embryonic development in Xenopus laevis

At fertilization, an increase of cytosolic calcium ions (Ca2+) triggers various activation responses in animal eggs. In vertebrates, these responses include exit from metaphase arrest in meiosis II (MII exit) and cortical remodelling initiated by cortical granule exocytosis. Although the essential requirement of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II for inducing MII exit has been documented, a role of the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase calcineurin in egg activation has not been investigated. Here we show, using cell-free extracts from unfertilized eggs of Xenopus laevis, that calcineurin is transiently activated immediately after Ca2+ addition to a concentration that induces MII exit. When calcineurin activation is inhibited, cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (Cdk1) inactivation by means of cyclin B degradation is prevented and sperm chromatin incubated in the extracts remains condensed. Similarly, if calcineurin is inhibited in intact eggs, MII exit on egg activation is prevented. In addition, the activation contraction in the cortex is suppressed whereas cortical granule exocytosis occurs. We further demonstrate that, when a high level of calcineurin activity is maintained after activation, growth of sperm asters is prevented in egg extracts and, consistently, migration of male and female pronuclei towards each other is hindered in fertilized eggs. Thus, both activation and the subsequent inactivation of calcineurin in fertilized eggs are crucial for the commencement of vertebrate embryonic development.     

中西药结合治疗感染性少、弱精子症临床分析

为探讨中西药结合治疗感染性少、弱精子症疗效,对73例存在不同部位生殖系统感染的少精子症或弱精子症引起的不育症患者应用相应抗生素治疗的同时均给予中药治疗,3个月为一个疗程,间隔3个月后复查精液常规,随访生育情况一年.结果:少精子症组随访中有9例妻子妊娠,妊娠率为33.3%.其中1例因剧烈活动妊娠2个月流产.弱精子症组随访中有17例妻子妊娠,妊娠率为37.0%,其中1例无明显原因妊娠2个月后流产.治疗前、后两组精液各项参数明显改善(P＜0.05).说明中、西药结合治疗感染性少、弱精子症起到标本兼治的疗效,少精子症、弱精子症妻子妊娠率均高于自然妊娠率,精液参数明显提高.     

三角涡虫雄性生殖管道的观察

涡虫在动物系统演化史上占有十分重要的地位,雌雄同体,具有很强的再生能力,因此,对其生殖系统组织结构进行深入研究具有重要的意义.本文用2种染色方法(H.E染色、Masson染色)显示了日本三角涡虫(Dugesia japonica)雄性生殖管道的组织结构并对其进行了光镜观察.结果表明,该类涡虫雄性生殖管道是由输精囊、输精管、球腔、射精管4部分构成.