Spermiogenesis in the red‐ear turtle ( Pseudemys scripta ) and the domestic fowl ( Gallus domesticus ): A study of cytoplasmic events including cell volume changes and cytoplasmic elimination

Nuclear and cytoplasmic volume changes as well as the elimination of residual spermatid cytoplasm were investigated in the red‐ear turtle ( Pseudemys scripta ) and the rooster ( Gallus domesticus ). Nuclei of newly formed spermatids which were originally centrally located became eccentrically located within the cell in both species. Shortly thereafter the nuclear pole of the spermatid was found situated within deep crypts of a Sertoli cell. The cytoplasm of elongating spermatids was displaced along the nonacrosomal region of the nucleus and the proximal flagellum. In both species sheetlike Sertoli cell processes indented spermatid cytoplasm adjacent to the nucleus and appeared to segregate small packets of the cytoplasm. In the turtle, these packets of cytoplasm were separated from the spermatid. In both the turtle and rooster, a portion of the spermatid cytoplasm was displaced forward over the acrosomal region of the spermatid to resemble a hood. As spermatids were transported to the seminiferous tubular lumen, cytoplasmic lobes which projected forward of the spermatid head were formed by preferential flow of cytoplasm into one aspect of the cytoplasmic hood. In both species, at sperm release the cytoplasmic lobe was disengaged from the spermatid head to form a large residual body that was internalized and degraded within the Sertoli cell. Medium‐sized cytoplasmic lobes were pinched from the head and neck region of the turtle and rooster spermatids, respectively. In the turtle, small‐sized mitochondrial‐rich cytoplasmic fragments budded from the caudal head and midpiece of the spermatids and were phagocytosed by the Sertoli cell. Thus, cytoplasmic elimination occurred through (1) segregation of cytoplasmic packets by Sertoli penetrating processes (turtle), (2) elimination of large and medium‐sized residual bodies from the head (turtle and bird), and (3) budding of small mitochondrial‐rich cytoplasmic fragments from the region of the midpiece (turtle). In the turtle a 79% reduction in total cell volume occurred during spermiogenesis which was the result of an 84% cytoplasmic reduction and a 78% nuclear reduction. During spermiogenesis, the rooster lost 97% of its total cell volume due to a 97% cytoplasmic volume change and a 96% nuclear volume change.