Movement of Myzostomum spermatozoa: calcium ion regulation of swimming direction.

Spermatozoa of the small myzostomid worm Myzostomum cirriferum usually swim with the flagellum foremost but occasionally stop and then swim with the head foremost. The spermatozoa have axoneme of the 9 + 0 type; thus each lacks the central pair microtubules. The flagellum emerges in the anterior end of the cell body and attaches to it with junctions. To understand the mechanism regulating the swimming direction of the spermatozoa, we recorded the sperm and their flagellar movements using a video camera with a high-speed shutter. The effects of calcium and viscosity on these movements were also examined. The cell body with the flagellum attached to it formed a curved plate during beating, while the free portion of the flagellum beats with small helical bends. Motive force to propel a spermatozoon was mainly due to the bends in the cell body. The spermatozoa reversed the direction of their swimming as a result of a change in the direction of bend propagation. The direction of bend propagation was regulated by calcium; the bends in the cell body propagated from the end of the head toward the free portion of the flagellum at low concentrations of Ca2+, whereas the direction of bend propagation was reversed at high concentrations of this ion. High viscosity of the medium stimulated a change in the direction of bend propagation.