Reproductive ultrastructure of adult Schistosoma mansoni grown in vitro.
The reproductive organs of paired S. mansoni adults cultured from cercariae were examined by transmission electron microscopy to assess their development. In males, many mature sperm, closely associated with the sustentacular cells, were produced in the testes. In females, although the vitelline gland had fewer lobules than were found in worms from animal infections, the cytoplasm of many vitelline cells contained abundant vitelline and lipid droplets. The structure of the Mehlis' gland, ootype, and uterus resembled that of in vivo adult females. However, in the ovary, the oocytes tended to degenerate, and within the ootype and uterus the oocytes were not embedded within egglike material. We conclude that a dysfunction of ovarian development is the primary reason for the reproductive failure of schistosome pairs grown in vitro under our experimental conditions.
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005836:Genitalia, Female / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005837:Genitalia, Male / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009865:Oocytes / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009867:Oogonia / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009940:Organoids / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010053:Ovary / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012550:Schistosoma mansoni / Q000254:growth & development / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D013091:Spermatogenesis; D013737:Testis / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014599:Uterus / Q000648:ultrastructure