Studies in Spermatogenesis (Part 1 of 2)Stevens, N. M. (Nettie Maria)
Science
Studies in Spermatogenesis (Part 1 of 2)
Stevens, N. M. (Nettie Maria)
Sex; Spermatogenesis
The spermatogonia contain a large nucleolus, which gradually disappears
in the prophases of mitosis (plate VII, figs. 209-211). The youngest
spermatocytes closely resemble the spermatogonia (fig. 212). There is no
bouquet stage and no such marked spireme stage as in many other
insects. The true synapsis occurs, as shown in figure 213, by pairing of
like chromosomes side by side. This conjugation of like chromosomes is
followed by a stage in which they are massed together at one side of the
nucleus (fig. 214). In these latter stages the nucleolus has entirely
faded out and nothing suggesting an accessory chromosome is present.
Figures 215 and 216 are equatorial plates of the first spermatocyte
mitosis. There are 5 chromosomes of different sizes and shapes, and
figure 216 shows each one double. The first division of the chromosomes,
though apparently longitudinal, is evidently a separation of the
elements paired in a preceding stage, and is therefore a reducing
division.
The anaphase of the same mitosis is shown in figures 217 and 218; it is
peculiar in that one chromosome always divides more slowly than the
others, the two elements hanging together at one end. In figure 219 are
sister spermatocytes of the second order, the "lagging" chromosomes
still connected. The second maturation division is seen in metaphase in
figure 220 and in anaphase in figure 221. Figure 222 shows a young
spermatid, the five chromosomes still preserving their characteristic
form. Figure 223 is the equatorial plate of the first maturation
division of the winter egg, showing the same form and size relations of
the chromosomes as in the spermatocyte divisions. Figures 224 and 225
are equatorial plates of a polar spindle (fig. 224) and of a
segmentation spindle (fig. 225) of the parthenogenetic egg, where 10
chromosomes are present, 2 of each of the sizes found in the sexual germ
cells.
So far as an accessory chromosome or any other visible evidence of a sex
determinant are concerned, the results are entirely negative. The
conditions shown do, however, support Mendel's conception of the "purity
of the germ-cells," and also afford evidence in favor of Boveri's theory
of the individuality of the chromosomes.
Sagitta bipunctata.
In connection with these insect forms it is of interest to find in the
spermatogenesis of _Sagitta_ a body which stains like chromatin and
behaves somewhat like the accessory chromosome. It is found in all
resting stages of the spermatogonia, closely applied to the nuclear
membrane (fig. 226). It divides before each spermatogonial mitosis (fig.
227) and, though not often discernible in the spindle, appears in the
next generation. Figure 228 is the last spermatogonial mitosis, and
figure 229 shows the element _x_, and the chromosomes paired at one pole
of the spindle. During the various phases of the growth stage (figs.
230-232) the element _x_ is again applied to the nuclear membrane.
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