Electron Microscope Observations on the Chemical Component of the Sheath of the Middle Piece of Atypical Spermatozoa of the Pond Snail, Cipangopaludina malleata REEVE

Abstract

Periodic acid-silver methenamine was used to stain the middle piece of the atypical spermatozoa of Cipangopaludina malleata REEVE at the level of electron microscopy. It was found that the PAS-positive layer of the middle piece consists of glycoprotein which seems to have originated from the DNA molecules. Glycoprotein was revealed neither on the plasma membrane nor on the limiting membrane of any of the bodies constituting the middle piece nor in the tail flagella.