Open Access

ARTICLE

Comparative fine structure of the epididymal spermatozoa from three korean shrews with considerations on their phylogenetic relationships

SOON-JEONG JEONG¹, JOO-CHEOL PARK¹, HEUNG-JOONG KIM², CHUN SIK BAE³, MYUNG-HEE YOON⁴, DO-SEON LIM⁵, MOON-JIN JEONG¹

1 Department of Oral Histology & Oral Biology Institute, College of Dentistry, Chosun University, Gwangju, 501-759,Korea
2 Department of Oral Anatomy, College of Dentistry, Chosun University, Gwangju, 501-759, Korea
3 College of Veterinary Medicine, Biotechnology Research Institute, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Korea
4 Division of Natural Science, College of Science, Kyungsung University, Busan 608-736, Korea
5 Department of Dental Hygiene, Seoul Health College, Sungnam, Korea
Address correspondence to: Dr. Moon-Jin Jeong. Department of Oral Histology, College of Dentistry, Chosun University, 501-759, Gwangju, KOREA. Fax: 82-1-62-224-3706. E-mail: mjjeong@chosun.ac.kr

BIOCELL 2006, 30(2), 279-286. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2006.30.279

Abstract

This study examined the fine structures of epididymal spermatozoa on the lesser white-toothed shrew (Crocidura suaveolens), the Japanese white-toothed shrew (C. dsinezumi) and the big white-toothed shrew (C. lasiura) belonging to the subfamily Crocidurinae living in Korea.
In the spermatozoa of C. suaveolens, the head has a large acrosome, a smooth inner acrosomal membrane and a wavy, finger-like, electron-dense apical body. The neck has a solid proximal centriole that is filled with electron-dense material. These results showed the spermatozoa of C. suaveolens possess the characteristics of both Crocidurinae and Soricinae. In C. dsinezumi and C. lasiura, the head has a large acrosome, a serrated inner acrosomal membrane and a common apical body. The neck has a fistulous proximal centriole with slightly dense electron granules. These results showed the typical characteristics of Crocidurinae.
Although C. suaveolens belongs to the subfamily Crocidurinae, the spermatozoan morphology is different from C. dsinezumi and C.lasiurai because it has conserved characteristics of the subfamily Soricinae.

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