Anatomical basis of sperm-storage in the avian oviduct.
The anatomical basis of oviductal sperm-storage in the avian oviduct is the sperm-storage tubule (SST). In the turkey this is composed of a simple columnar epithelium characterized by a supranuclear vacuole, which possibly contains lipid material, and appears to differentiate from the oviductal surface epithelium prior to full sexual maturation. Turkey SST epithelium was periodic-acid Schiff-negative and failed to bind four of the five lectins examined. Only winged pea agglutinin, which has an affinity for fucose-containing glycosidic residues, bound to some individual SST epithelial cells. Short-term cultures of oviductal mucosae containing SST showed aggregates of sperm associated with the spaces between adjacent folds and in surface openings assumed to be SST.
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U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland 20705.
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D037102:Lectins; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology; D008297:Male; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010057:Oviducts / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014422:Turkeys
D037102:Lectins