Effect of cryopreservation on the fine structure of spermatozoa of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and brown trout (Salmo trutta F. fario)
Freeze-fracture electron microscopy has revealed that changes are induced in the organization of the plasma membranes of spermatozoa of rainbow and brown trout when they are cryopreserved. Electron-micrographic images of spermatozoa that had not been exposed to cryopreservation showed a protoplasmic surface with particles homogeneously distributed. The concentration of the particles was low. In the median portion of the tail the authors observed longitudinal strips, consisting of particles located along the bands. In the neck of the spermatozoon the particles were aggregated in a chaotic manner. Electron micrographs of trout spermatozoa that had been cryopreserved showed particles grouped in rounded clusters on the protoplasmic surfaces of both the head and the tail. In some spermatozoa, folding of the protoplasmic membrane, with the particle-free sites, were found. The dimensions of the clusters and the spaces that were free of particles suggest that, after thawing, the spermatozoa of the brown trout is likely to experience greater difficulty in restoring their physiological integrity than those of the rainbow trout. These results suggest that the membrane proteins of spermatozoa of the species of trout that were studied possess high motility and diffuse, with the formation of clusters, in very short periods of time (about 30 s). The changes in membrane structure of the trout spermatozoa following cryopreservation appear to indicate high lability. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.
Drokin
S
Institute for Problems of Cryobiology and Cryomedicine, National Academy of Sciences of the Ukraine, 23 Pereyaslavskeya Street, Kharkov, 310015, Ukraine.
Stein
H
Bartscherer
H