Nucleinsäuren, Verschiedenes

Abstract

In the development of the atypical spermatozoa of Cipangopaludina malleata Reeve, the nucleus fails to differentiate and simply shrinks in volume until only a remnant, devoid of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), is left. The cytoplasm shows numerous vesicles containing small DNA-positive granules. The cytoplasm of the atypical spermatids of Melanin libertina Gould is characterized by the presence of ribonucleic acid (RNA)-positive granules in the vesicles. Such two kinds of granules increase in number and size as spermiogenesis proceeds. Many of them are used in the formation of the sheath of middle piece of mature atypical spermatozoa in the former, but in the latter in the formation of the head sheath of the mature. At that time the DNA- and RNA-positive granules are transformed into periodic acid-Schiff (PAS)-positive substances. Such process is pursued by several fixation techniques, cytochemical analysis employing Feulgen-, Unna-Pappenheim-, and nucleosidediphosphatasereactions, and utilizing autoradiography. It is concluded that the Golgi complex functions as an important cell organelle in the process of transformation of nucleic acids into PAS-positive substances.