Dorota BANASZEWSKA, Aldona GONTARZ, Magdalena GRYZINSKA, Katarzyna ANDRASZEK

Differences in drone sperm morphometry and activity at the beginning and end of the season

The sperm cells of the honey bee, like the sperm of most invertebrates, belong to the modified type of spermatozoa. In our own research, differences have been observed in the activity of sperm cells isolated from drones at the beginning and end of the season. On the basis of these observations, research was undertaken to determine whether the changes in drone activity are associated with morphological changes. The sperm cells collected from drones at the beginning of the mating season are longer than the sperm cells from the end of the season. Moreover, sperm cells from the beginning of the season exhibited more intensive rotational motion than those collected at the end of the season. Experimental AgNO3 staining differentiated the sperm head into the acrosomal part (darkly stained) and the distal part (lightly stained). Staining in this manner clearly identifies the sperm nucleus and structurally differentiates the tail.

PDF

___

1. Koeniger G, Koeniger N, Fabritius M. Some detailed observations of mating in the honeybee. Bee World 1979; 60: 53-57.
2. Skowronek W, Kruk C, Loc K. The insemination of queen honeybees with diluted semen. Apidologie 1995; 26: 487-493.
3. Mackensen O. Effect of diluents and temperature on instrumental insemination of queen honey bees. J Econ Ent 1969; 62: 1370-1372.
4. Woyke J. Factors that determine the number of spermatozoa in the spermatheca of naturally mated queens. Ztschr Bienenforsch 1966; 8: 236-247.
5. Harbo JR. Instrumental insemination of queen bees part 1. Amer Bee J 1985; 125: 197-202.
6. Collins AM, Donoghue AM. Viability assessment of honey bee, Apis mellifera, sperm using dual fluorescent staining. Theriogenology 1999; 51: 1513-1523.
7. Rhodes JW, Harden S, Spooner-Hart R, Anderson DL, Wheen G. Effect of age, season and genetics on semen and sperm production in Apis mellifera drones. Apidologie 2011; 42: 29-38.
8. Hellmich RL, Kulincevic JM, Rothenbuhler WC. Selection for high and low pollen-hoarding honey bees. J Heredity 1985; 76: 155-158.
9. Bishop GH. Fertilization in the honeybee, I. The male sexual organs: their histological structure and physiological functioning. J Exp Zool 1920; 31: 225-265.
10. Page RE. Sperm utilization in social insects. Annu Rev Entomol 1986; 31: 297-320.
11. Kondracki S, Banaszewska D, Mielnicka C. The effect of age on the morphometric sperm traits of domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domestica). Cell Mol Biol Lett 2005; 10: 3-13.
12. Andraszek K, Smalec E. The use of silver nitrate for the identification of spermatozoon structure in selected mammals. Can J Anim Sci 2011; 91: 239-246.
13. Andraszek K, Banaszewska D, Czubaszek M, Wójcik E, Szostek M. Comparison of different chromatin staining techniques for bull sperm. Archiv Tierzucht 2014; 57: 1-15.
14. Andraszek K, Banaszewska D, Wójcik E, Szostek M, Czubaszek M, Walczak-Jędrzejowska R. The use of silver nitrate for the assessment of seminologic semen parameters in selected farm and wild animal species. Bull Vet Inst Pulawy 2014; 58: 487-494.
15. Garner DL, Johnson LA, Yue ST, Roth B, Haugland RP. Dual DNA staining assessment of bovine sperm viability using SYBR-14 and propidium iodide. J Androl 1994; 15: 620-629.
16. Thomas TH, Garner DL. Post-thaw bovine spermatozoa quality estimated from fresh samples. J Androl 1994; 15: 489-500.
17. Phillips DM. Insect sperm, their structure and morphogenesis. J Cell Biol 1970; 44: 243-277.
18. Lensky Y, Ben-David E, Schindler H. Ultrastructure of the spermatozoon of the mature drone honeybee. J Apic Res 1979; 18: 264-271.
19. Tarliyah L, Boedino A, Walujo D. Motility of honeybee Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera, Apidae) spermatozoa in various storage temperature in dilution media containing different glucose levels. Media Veteriner 1999; 6: 15-20.
20. Gomendio M, Roldan ERS. Sperm competition influences sperm size in mammals. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 1991; 243: 181-185.
21. Zawadzka J, Łukaszewicz E. Sperm morphometry of six Polish duck conservative flocks. Zesz Nauk UP Wroc Biol Hod Zwierz 2012; 591: 41-48.
22. Hunter FM. Birkhead TR. Sperm viability and sperm competition in insects. Curr Biol 2002, 12: 121-123.
23. Woyciechowski M, Król E. On intraoviductal sperm competition in the honeybee (Apis mellifera). Folia Biol (Krakow) 1996; 44: 1-2.
24. Harshman LG, Prout T. Sperm displacement without sperm transfer in Drosophila melanogaster. Evolution 1994; 48: 758-766.
25. Azis N, Fear S, Taylor C, Kingsland CR, Lewis-Jones I. Human sperm head morphometric distribution and its influence on human fertility. Fertil Steril 1998; 70: 883-891.