Department of Life Sciences, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
Arthropod Struct Dev. 2021 Jan;60:101001. doi: 10.1016/j.asd.2020.101001. Epub 2020 Oct 26.
The coevolution between sperm length and size of the female sperm-storage organs is described for the first time within Heteroptera. The long sperm of the measurer bug Hydrometra stagnorum is characterized by the unusually long acrosome with its anterior region helically arranged, and by a very short nucleus. The sperm flagellum has a 9 + 9+2 conventional axoneme and crystallized mitochondrial derivatives. The female spermatheca consists of an extraordinarily long spermathecal duct ending with an apical spermathecal bulb into which flows also the secretions of a relatively short spermathecal gland. Both spermathecal duct and gland have a thin epithelium lined by a cuticle, beneath which a complex of secretory and duct forming cells are present. The secretions of these two structures flow into the apical spermathecal bulb. A thick layer of muscle fibers surrounds the epithelium. These results confirm the opinion that the dimensions of the female reproductive sperm-storage organs are able to drive the sperm morphology.
这是首次在半翅目昆虫中描述精子长度和雌性精子储存器官大小之间的协同进化。量步甲 Hydrometra stagnorum 的长精子的特点是，顶体非常长，其前部呈螺旋状排列，而且细胞核非常短。精子鞭毛具有 9+9+2 常规轴丝和结晶线粒体衍生物。雌性受精囊由一条非常长的受精囊管组成，末端为顶端受精囊球，一些相对较短的受精囊腺分泌物也流入其中。受精囊管和腺均具有薄的上皮细胞层，其下存在分泌和导管形成细胞的复合物。这两个结构的分泌物流入顶端受精囊球。上皮细胞周围有一层厚厚的肌肉纤维。这些结果证实了这样一种观点，即雌性生殖精子储存器官的尺寸能够驱动精子形态的形成。
