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Protamine amount and cross linking in mouse teratospermatozoa and aneuploid spermatozoa
Author(s) -
De Boer P.,
Redi C. A.,
Garagna S.,
Winking H.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
molecular reproduction and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.745
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1098-2795
pISSN - 1040-452X
DOI - 10.1002/mrd.1080250312
Subject(s) - biology , protamine , aneuploidy , chromosomal translocation , andrology , epididymis , karyotype , robertsonian translocation , spermatogenesis , genetics , trisomy , chromosome , meiosis , zygote , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , endocrinology , sperm , biochemistry , embryogenesis , medicine , heparin
The level of SH‐group oxidation in spermatozoa from the cauda epididymis was measured by a cytofluorometric method in chromosomally normal mice and two chromosome mutants. The first one, a tertiary trisomic karyotype (Ts(1 13 )7OH), is characterized by severe oligospermia and high levels (≈75%) of malformed spermatozoa. The second, a hybrid between two European feral mouse stocks, is heterozygous for multiple Robertsonian translocations and produces exclusively aneuploid spermatozoa. Neither the severe teratospemiogenesis nor the severe aneuploidy was reflected in total SH‐group fluorescence values nor in free SH‐group fluorescence. It is concluded that both the production of protamines and protamine cross linking by S‐S bridge formation are rather autonomous processes during spermatogenesis because (1) the increased DNA variance of the aneuploid spermatozoa is not reflected in an increased variance of the total and free SH‐groups, (2) aneuploidy for the protamine gene carrying chromosome 16 is not reflected by the SH‐group values for individual spermatozoa, and (3) protamine production and cross linking are independent of the mild to severe terataspermiogenesis in the tertiary trisomic karyotype.