ISSN:
0003-276X
Keywords:
Life and Medical Sciences
;
Cell & Developmental Biology
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Seminiferous tubules from mouse testes were studied with the light microscope after the efferent ductules had been ligated for 48 hours. As a consequence of ligation, the tubules became markedly distended by the fluid which they accumulated; the epithelium was reduced in height, and exhibited a significantly less complex stratification than in the normal. Longitudinal sections of the distended tubules, particularly those in the early stages of the seminiferous cycle, revealed pillar-like epithelial profiles arranged in a repetitive series. Each “pillar” consisted of Sertoli cell cytoplasm along with two generations of spermatids, the older generation embedded within the Sertoli cell, and the younger generation aligned, one cell above the other, along its sides. Oblique or grazing sections through tubules exhibiting the same stages of spermiogenesis revealed band-like epithelial profiles arranged in parallel array. The two types of epithelial configurations are interpreted as representing a series of circumferentially oriented ridges within the tubule. It is postulated that each spermatid generation within a ridge constitutes a single clone, and that it is the cytoplasmic bridges joining the spermatids, in combination with their attachment to the Sertoli cells, which provide the organization, delineation, and structural stability of the ridges.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ar.1091800403
