全部 标题 作者
关键词 摘要

OALib Journal期刊
ISSN: 2333-9721
费用:99美元

查看量下载量

相关文章

更多...
PLOS ONE  2014 

Sperm Bundles in the Seminal Vesicles of Sexually Mature Lasius Ant Males

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0093383

Full-Text   Cite this paper   Add to My Lib

Abstract:

In many insects, sperm cells are produced in bundles with their heads being held together by a glycoprotein matrix secreted by a cyst cell. Mature sperm cells in the seminal vesicles are usually free, but in sawflies and several other insects, such structures (spermatodesmata) remain intact and sperm cells may be ejaculated as bundles. Here we report the occurrence of spermatodesmata in mature males of the ant Lasius pallitarsis. Microscopic investigations of the abdominal contents of males immediately prior to their nuptial flights showed that the anterior ends of numerous sperm cells were embedded in an oval-shaped 20 by 30 micrometer extracellular fibrous cap. Individual sperm ranged in length from 55 to 75 micrometers with an average overall length of 65 micrometers. The bulb-shaped heads of the sperm were relatively small, only about 1.5 micrometers in length and about 1.1 micrometers in diameter. The diameter of the sperm tails was approximately 1 micrometer. Observations of live preparations of the spermatodesmata showed increasingly active undulating wave-like movement of the sperm tails as the slide preparations aged. This appears to be the first case of sperm bundles being present in the seminal vesicles of mature ant males – males that are immediately poised to complete their nuptial mating flight.

References

[1]  Pitnick S, Hosken DJ, Birkhead TR (2009) Sperm morphological diversity. In: Birkhead TR, Hosken DJ, Pitnick SS, editors. Sperm biology: an evolutionary perspective. Burlington, Mass.: Academic Press. pp 69–149.
[2]  Higginson DM, Pitnick S (2011) Evolution of intra-ejaculate sperm interactions: do sperm cooperate? Biol Rev 86: 249–270. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-185x.2010.00147.x
[3]  Tschinkel WR, Porter SD (1988) Efficiency of sperm use in queens of the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Ann Entomol Soc Am 81: 777–778.
[4]  Baer B, Schmid-Hempel P, Hoeg JT, Boomsma JJ (2003) Sperm length, sperm storage and mating system characteristics in bumblebees. Insectes Soc 50: 101–108. doi: 10.1007/s00040-003-0641-0
[5]  Baer B (2005) Sexual selection in Apis bees. Apidologie 36: 187–200.
[6]  Boomsma JJ, Baer B, Heinze J (2005) The evolution of male traits in social insects. Annu Rev Entomol 50: 395–420. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ento.50.071803.130416
[7]  Oppelt A, Heinze J (2007) Dynamics of sperm transfer in the ant Leptothorax gredleri. Naturwissenschaften 94: 781–786. doi: 10.1007/s00114-007-0249-8
[8]  den Boer SPA, Boomsma JJ, Baer B (2008) Seminal fluid enhances sperm viability in the leaf cutter ant Atta colombica. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 62: 1843–1849. doi: 10.1007/s00265-008-0613-5
[9]  den Boer SPA, Baer S, Dreier S, Aron S, Nash DR, et al. (2009) Prudent sperm use by leaf-cutter ant queens. Proc R Soc Lond B 276: 3945–3953. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2009.1184
[10]  den Boer SPA, Baer B, Boomsma JJ (2010) Seminal fluid mediates ejaculate competition in social insects. Science 327: 1506–1509. doi: 10.1126/science.1184709
[11]  Baer B, Djikstra MB, Mueller UG, Nash DR, Boomsma JJ (2009) Sperm length evolution in the fungus-growing ants. Behav Ecol 20: 38–45. doi: 10.1093/beheco/arn112
[12]  Baer B, Boomsma JJ (2006) Mating biology of the leaf-cutting ants Atta colombica and A. cephalotes. J Morphol 267: 1165–1171. doi: 10.1002/jmor.10467
[13]  Quicke DLJ, Ingram SN, Baillie HS, Gaitens PV (1992) Sperm structure and ultrastructure in the Hymenoptera (Insecta). Zool Scr 21: 381–402. doi: 10.1111/j.1463-6409.1992.tb00339.x
[14]  Schiff A, Flemming AJ, Quicke DLJ (2001) Spermatodesmata of the sawflies (Hymenoptera: Symphyta): Evidence for multiple increases in sperm bundle size. J Hym Res 10: 119–125.
[15]  Lino-Neto J, Dolder H, Mancini K, Mercati D, Dallai R (2008) The short spermatodesm of Arge pagana (Hymenoptera: Symphyta). Tissue Cell 40: 185–193. doi: 10.1016/j.tice.2007.11.004
[16]  Zama U, Lino-Neto J, Dolder H (2001) Ultrastructure of spermatozoa in Plebeia (Plebeia) droryana (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponina). J Hym Res 10: 261–270.
[17]  Zama U, Lino-Neto J, Dolder H (2004) Structure and ultrastructure of spermatozoa in Meliponini (stingless bees) (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Tissue Cell 36: 29–41. doi: 10.1016/j.tice.2003.08.003
[18]  Zama U, Lino-Neto J, Melo SM, Campos LAO, Dolder H (2005) Ultrastructural characterization of spermatozoa in Euglossini bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Apinae). Insectes Soc 52: 122–131. doi: 10.1007/s00040-005-0789-x
[19]  Wheeler DE, Crichton EG, Krutzsch PH (1990) Comparative ultrastructure of ant spermatozoa (Formicidae : Hymenotpera). J Morph 206: 343–350. doi: 10.1002/jmor.1052060311
[20]  Wheeler DE, Krutzsch PH (1992) Internal reproductive system in adult males of the genus Camponotus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae). J Morph 211: 307–317. doi: 10.1002/jmor.1052110308
[21]  Lino-Neto J, Dolder H (2002) Sperm structure and ultrastructure of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta (Buren) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Tissue Cell 34: 124–128. doi: 10.1016/s0040-8166(02)00026-5
[22]  Moreira J, Zama U, Lino-Neto J (2004) Release, behavior and phylogenetic significance of spermatozoa in bundles in the seminal vesicle during sexual maturation in Aculeata (Hymenoptera). Braz J Morph Sci 21: 185–189.
[23]  Moja J, Manzini K, Lino-Neto J, Delabie J, Dolder H (2007) Sperm ultrastructure of five species of the Neotropical ant genus Pseudomyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Acta Zool 88: 181–187. doi: 10.1111/j.1463-6395.2007.00264.x
[24]  H?lldobler B, Bartz SH (1985) Sociobiology of reproduction in ants. In: H?lldobler B, Lindauer M, editors. Experimental behavioral ecology and sociobiology. Sunderland: Sinauer Ass. pp. 237–257.
[25]  Burnett WE (2013) Sperm bundles from the male ant Lasius pallitarsis (Video). Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuIcD-dj?J0c. Accessed 2014 March 7.
[26]  Thompson TE, Blum MS (1967) Structure and behavior of spermatozoa of the fire ant Solenopsis saevissima (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Ann Entomol Soc Am 60: 632–642.
[27]  van der Have TM, Boomsma JJ, Menken SBJ (1988) Sex investment ratios and relatedness in the monogynous ant Lasius niger (L.). Evolution 42: 160–172. doi: 10.2307/2409124
[28]  Fjerdingstad EJ, Gertsch PJ, Keller L (2003) The relationship between multiple mating by queens, within-colony genetic variability and fitness in the ant Lasius niger. J evol Biol 16: 844–853. doi: 10.1046/j.1420-9101.2003.00589.x
[29]  Bartels PJ (1985) Field observations of multiple matings in Lasius alienus Foerster (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Am Midl Nat 113: 190–192. doi: 10.2307/2425361
[30]  Hayashi F (1998) Sperm co-operation in the Fishfly, Parachauliodes japonicus. Funct Ecol 12: 347–350. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2435.1998.00205.x
[31]  Pizzari T, Foster KR (2008) Sperm sociality: cooperation, altruism, and spite. PLoS Biol 6(5): e130. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0060130

Full-Text

Contact Us

service@oalib.com

QQ:3279437679

WhatsApp +8615387084133