U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service, Lincoln, Nebraska
Date of this Version
2002
Abstract
The spatial distribution of sperm within the sperm storage tubules (SST) found in
the uterovaginal junction (UVJ) of the turkey is not known. In this study, we inseminated sperm stained with a fluorescent dye (Hoechst 33342) to determine their distribution in SST in the ventral, dorsal, and lateral regions of the proximal, middle, and distal regions of the UVJ. There was no preferential filling in the ventral-dorsal axis of the UVJ. In contrast, preferential filling of the SST was observed in the middle section of the UVJ. Here the individual SST were clearly longer and more pleomorphic than the SST in the more proximal and distal aspects of the UVJ. While no information on the temporal aspect of SST filling by sperm could be gleaned, it is evident that the more morphologically developed SST either accept sperm more readily or store sperm more efficiently than SST elsewhere in the UVJ.
Comments
Published in JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY, 292:206–209 (2002). DOI 10.1002/jez.1156