Structure Of Male Accessory Glands Of Gampsocleis Gratiosa Brunner Von Wattenwyl And Protein Analysis Of Their Secretions

Male accessory glands of Gampsocleis gratiosa Brunner von Wattenwyl locate in ventral surface alimentary canal and in inner side of testicles, and consist of two bilateral masses, each of which is composed of numerous tubules. The tubules can be subdivided into 3 types, indicated as long opalescent glands, hyaline glands and short opalescent glands, according to their length and morphology. The terminal of long opalescent glands extends forward, and the base of long opalescent glands forms single tubule, which stretchs into the cavity of the short opalescent glands. Hyaline glands are in the ventral surface of long opalescent glands. Hyaline glands open into the single tubule, which between long opalescent glands and short opalescent glands. Short opalescent glands are at the end of the abdominal cavity, and their diameters are the shortest. Central cavity of short opalescent glands opens into the ejaculatory duct. The seminal vesicle is situated the base of the short opalescent gland, which usually has a wider diameter than short opalescent gland, and has 5-7 tubules per side, sometimes it appears yellow.The structure of 3 types of gland in G. gratiosa is analysed on serial sections from wax-embedded, semithin sections and ultrathin sections. The results show that all gland tubules wall are histologically similar, which consist of single epithelium, basement membrane, muscle layer and peritoneal membrane. The epithelium is monolayered and devoid of cuticular intima, thus reflecting its mesodermic orgin. The ultrastructure of the epithelial cells of the accessory gland tubules show features typically encountered in cells specialized for export protein synthesis, and including abundant rough endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria and secretory vesicles. Although all 3 types of gland produce electron-transparent materials and electron-dense granules secretions. Electron-dense granules of different sizes randomly immersed in finely fibrillar materials in long opalescent gland lumen. Hyaline gland lumen contains four components: fibrillar materials, electron-dense granules, fine granular materials and globules. Short opalescent gland lumen contains electron-dense granules which emerge between fibrillar materials or fibrillar materials which form a polygon sometimes.In G. gratiosa, secretory proteins of the 3 types of gland before and after mating have been characterized by SDS-PAGE, on 12% separating gel, and all samples showed bands distributed in a wide range of molecular weights. In all cases, prominent bands molecular weights are between 20KDa and 66.2KDa. The same type gland has different bands, and protein content is different before and after mating.In G. gratiosa, the main function of the male accessory glands is the formation of the spermatophore. Long opalescent glands may be responsible for the spermatophylax, and short opalescent glands may be responsible for the sperm ampullae. The secretory proteins of male accessory glands can maintain the biological activity of sperms. The secretory proteins of short opalescent glands can induce dismantling of the spermatodesm cap and may play some part in the formation of feather-like spermatodesm during the process of sperm transfer from male to female.