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Ultrastructural aspects of spermatogenesis, testes, and vas deferens in the parthenogenetic tapeworm Atractolytocestus huronensis Anthony, 1958 (Cestoda: Caryophyllidea), a carp parasite from Slovakia

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Abstract

Spermatogenesis, testes, and vas deferens in the parthenogenetic monozoic tapeworm Atractolytocestus huronensis Anthony, 1958 (Cestoda: Caryophyllidea) from Slovakia, parasitizing the carp Cyprinus carpio L., have been investigated by means of transmission electron microscopy for the first time. The present results show that helminths with parthenogenetic and normal reproduction may share some common spermatology features, e.g., dense cytoplasm of the peripherally localized spermatogonia or a rosette type of spermatogenesis. In contrast to tapeworms with normal reproduction, the most prominent ultrastructural characteristic of the spermatocytes of A. huronensis is fragmentation of their nuclei. This clear feature of cell degeneration might be a consequence of the aberrant first meiotic division. Peripheral cortical microtubules and a single centriole, indicators of the ongoing spermiogenesis, were observed only very rarely in the early spermatids. Characteristics of normal spermiogenesis, i.e., apical dense material in the zone of differentiation in early stages of spermiogenesis, flagellar rotation, and proximo-distal fusion, were never found in the present study. The testes follicles are surrounded by a thin cytoplasmic sheath underlined by a basal lamina. Vas deferens is lined by flat epithelium with numerous surface lamellae and cilia. Mature, functional spermatozoa were not observed in the vas deferens of A. huronensis from Slovakia.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Professor J.S. Mackiewicz who kindly provided valuable constructive comments on an earlier version of the manuscript and edited this text. The help of Dr. Borislav Kostič with the preparation of the plates with figures is thankfully acknowledged. Thanks to the staff of the Laboratory of Electron Microscopy, Institute of Parasitology BC AS CR, České Budějovice, Czech Republic for technical assistance. This study was supported by the Grant Agency of the Slovak Republic VEGA (project no. 2/0018/08).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Parasitological Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Hlinkova 3, 040 01, Košice, Slovak Republic

    Magdaléna Bruňanská & Mikuláš Oros

  2. Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Branišovská 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    Jana Nebesářová

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  1. Magdaléna Bruňanská
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  2. Jana Nebesářová
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  3. Mikuláš Oros
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Correspondence to Magdaléna Bruňanská.

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Bruňanská, M., Nebesářová, J. & Oros, M. Ultrastructural aspects of spermatogenesis, testes, and vas deferens in the parthenogenetic tapeworm Atractolytocestus huronensis Anthony, 1958 (Cestoda: Caryophyllidea), a carp parasite from Slovakia. Parasitol Res 108, 61–68 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-010-2038-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-010-2038-0

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