The Spermatozoa of the Holothuroidea (Echinodermata): an Ultrastructural Review with Data on two Australian Species and Phylogenetic Discussion

Holothuroidea, like the Crinoidea, Asteroidea and Ophiuroidea have aquatic sperm with a subspherical nucleus in which is embedded a subspherical acrosome and its surrounding periacrosomal material. A ring-shaped mitochondrion behind the nucleus surrounds two centrioles from the distal of which a 9 + 2 axoneme arises. The term "echinosperm" is proposed for this sperm type. Holothuroid echinosperm are characterized by anterior constriction of the periacrosomal fossa; a rounded posterior limit to the acrosome; absence of a distinct subacrosomal depression; outgrowth of a flagellar rootlet from the proximal centriole, of which vestigial homologues are known only in one crinoid and one echinoid. Modified sperm, though not greatly divergent from the echinosperm, are known in two holothuroids and one crinoid. The sperm of echinoids, which are not referable to the echinosperm, are considered plesiomorphic in failure of the acrosome to become embedded in the nucleus (a feature retained from an ancestry shared with enteropneusts), but apomorphic in the conical form of the nucleus and development of spine-like structures around the anterior rim of the nucleus. Spermatozoa1 data suggest that the holothuroid-crinozoan-asterozoan assemblage is the sister group of the Echinoidea. Inclusion of holothuroids in the Echinozoa is not supported.     

The ultrastructure of the spermatozoa of bufonid and hylid frogs (Anura, Amphibia): implications for phylogeny and fertilization biology

Comparison of the spermatozoa of Bufo marinus , six Australian species of the family Hylidae, and the myobatrachine Adelotus brevis , with those of 41 other species of frogs, in a total of 12 investigated families allows the following phylogenetic inferences: the bufonoids (myobatrachids, leptodactylids, hylids, and bufonids) form a monophyletic assemblage with a single synapomorphy: the presence of a conical subacrosomal perforatorium. This structure is analogous to, rather than homologous with, the perforatorium in archaeobatrachians, which differs notably in being an endonuclear structure. The hylid-leptodactylid-bufonid assemblage is the sister-group of the Myobatrachidae (Australian 'leptodactylids'). Myobatrachids are distinguished by two. albeit weak, synapomorphies, the presence of well-defined pericentriolar material, and the extension of the axial rod up the centriolar fossa, the latter condition approached in the bufonid Nectophrynoides. The bufonid, leptodactylid ( sensu strictu ), and hylid families are united, and separated from myobatrachids, by a single synapomorphy: a thick collar-like cytoplasmic sheath that emanates from the centriolar region, is separated from the flagellum by a cytoplasmic canal, and contains the mitochondria. Litoria fallax, L. gracilenta , and L. lesueuri are associated by a unique synapomorphy, hypermorphosis of the minor fibre (juxta-axonemal fibre), though this is approached in Bufo bufo. However, there is no spermatological evidence supporting the recognition of Australian hylids (pelodryadids) as a group distinct from the remaining eubufonoids and, specifically, from the Hylidae. Evidence is presented in support of the tentative proposal that the Lissamphibia were primitively internally fertilizing.     

THE SPERMATOZOA OF THE POLYCHAETA (ANNELIDA): AN ULTRASTRUCTURAL REVIEW

1. Polychaete sperm are divisible into ect-aquasperm, ent-aquasperm, and introsperm. 2. Ect-aquasperm are the commonest type of polychaete sperm and are considered plesiomorphic for the Polychaeta. Re-evolution of ect-aquasperm (as neo-aquasperm) is, nevertheless, tentatively hypothesized for some Sabellida. 3. In terms of ultrastructural studies of sperm in the investigated polychaete families, only ect-aquasperm have been demonstrated for 16 families; only ent-aquasperm for 3 families; ect- and ent-aquasperm for 3; ect- and intro-sperm for 2; ect-, ent- and intro-sperm for 1 family; and only introsperm for 11 families but investigations can only be regarded as preliminary. To date no family is known to have ent- and intro-sperm only. Sperm ultrastructure has yet to be examined in the orders Magelonida, Psammodrilida, Cossurida, Spintherida, Sternapsida, Flabelligerida and Fauvelopsida. 4. Much variation occurs in gross morphology, ultrastructure and configuration of the several components of ect-aquasperm: acrosome, nucleus, mitochondria, and centrioles and associated anchoring apparatus. A 9 + 2 axoneme is constant. 5. Group-specific sperm structure has been demonstrated for the Nereidae (chiefly ect-aquasperm), and for introsperm of the families Histriobdellidae, Questidae; Capitellidae, Spionidae and Protodrilidae. Species-specificity of all classes of spermatozoa is well established. 6. The very small size of ect-aquasperm is correlated with production of large numbers of sperm as an adaptation to broadcast spawning. Simplicity of structure may relate more to conservation of materials than to hydrodynamics. 7. Fertilization by ent-aquasperm requires fewer eggs than in external fertilization and is accompanied by a tendency to lecithotrophy. Elongation of the nucleus and development of asymmetry are seen in several of the few known examples of ent-aquasperm. Whether modifications are related to transfer or to other features, such as lecithotrophy, is uncertain. 8. Evident multiple origins of polychaete introsperm contraindicate their value in establishing relationship between families, in contrast with their utility in groups such as decapod crustacea. 9. At the intrafamilial level polychaete introsperm have taxonomic and phylogenetic value, as seen in the Spionidae, Capitellidae, and Histriobdellidae, and are distinctive of each of these and other families. 10. At higher taxonomic levels, the ultrastructure of the sperm of the oligochaetoid Questidae distinguishes this family from euclitellates, each class of which has its own distinctive subtype of the euclitellate introsperm. 11.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Enzymatic Basis for Platelet: Collagen Adhesion as the Primary Step in Haemostasis

The formation of an enzyme-acceptor complex as the effective intermediate in platelet: collagen adhesion provides a simple model for studying the primary step in haemostasis and may provide a rational basis for the design of anti-thrombogenic drugs.     

Heterozygosity–fitness correlations and their relevance to studies on inbreeding depression in threatened species

The majority of reported multilocus heterozygosity–fitness correlations (HFCs) are from large, outbred populations, and their relevance to studies on inbreeding depression in threatened populations is often stressed. The results of such HFC studies conducted on outbred populations may be of limited application to threatened population management, however, as bottlenecked populations exhibit increased incidence of inbreeding, increased linkage disequilibrium, reduced genetic diversity and possible effects of historical inbreeding such as purging. These differences may affect both our ability to detect inbreeding depression in threatened species, and our interpretation of the underlying mechanisms for observed heterozygosity–fitness relationships. The study of HFCs in outbred populations is of interest in itself, but the results may not translate directly to threatened populations that have undergone severe bottlenecks.     

Sex Differences in the Play Behavior of Yearling Yellow-bellied Marmots

Play in yearling yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) was studied under non-manipulative field conditions in the Upper East River Valley of Colorado. The behavior patterns constituting play were described and illustrated and 12 specific hypotheses related to sex differences were tested. The results of these tests were used to evaluate the adaptive significance of play by comparing two major functional hypotheses: motor training and social cohesion.     

Low genetic diversity and small population size of Takahe Porphyrio hochstetteri on European arrival in New Zealand

The rediscovery of the Takahe Porphyrio hochstetteri in 1948 in the remote mountains of Fiordland, New Zealand, has been described as one of the greatest moments in ornithological history. The subsequent management of the population has become a model for avian recovery programmes, yet questions still remain regarding the population size at the time of, and prior to, its rediscovery. We used 20 microsatellite markers to genotype samples of the three surviving museum specimens (1849–1898) collected prior to the initial declaration of extinction to estimate levels of genetic diversity and effective population size. These estimates were compared with equivalent estimates from DNA samples of three specimens preserved at the time of rediscovery (1949) and with 20 contemporary samples. Using rarefaction simulations to account for the limited sample sizes, the results suggest that only slightly more genetic diversity (allelic diversity and numbers of polymorphic loci) existed in the earliest Takahe sampled and that levels of genetic diversity at the time of rediscovery were very similar to those today. Effective population size estimates showed a similar pattern. Contemporary samples from a widespread congener to Takahe, the Pukeko Porphyrio porphyrio, showed consistently higher levels of genetic diversity and greater effective population size, even after equivalent rarefaction to the same small sample sizes available for Takahe. It is likely that the population size of Takahe in Fiordland at the time of European arrivals in the 1800s was similar to its current size. These results provide molecular support for the hypothesis that Takahe were common throughout most coastal and eastern parts of the South Island of New Zealand before being hunted to extinction in these regions by early Maori, and persisted as a relatively small and isolated population in Fiordland where they may never have been very common. This is in marked contrast to other New Zealand endemic birds found in Fiordland, such as the Kakapo Strigops habroptilus and several forest passerines, which remained relatively numerous until the time of European arrival before undergoing rapid declines thereafter.