Ultrastructure of the Spermatozoid of Lycopodium obscurum (Lycopodiaceae)

Motile Gametes of Land Plants: Diversity, Development, and Evolution

“…Diagnostic of spermatids/spermatozoids in this family, this matrix is quite extensive and enables the identification of basal body position and flagellar insertion in sections near to but not including basal bodies. No significant modifications in basal body structure have been reported for fully differentiated spermatozoids of Lycopodiaceae (Robbins and Carothers, 1978;Maden et al, 1996Maden et al, , 1997.…”

“…The spermatozoid of Huperzia coils around one revolution and the single plastid is positioned at the cell posterior, adjacent to the spline ( Figure 7B). Lycopodium (Maden et al, 1996) and Diphasiastrum (Schuette et al, 2000) gametes are similar to those of Huperzia in that the nucleus is broadly cylindrical and slightly coiled, but the plastid is positioned along the ventral nuclear surface, and not strictly adjacent to the spline. Aside from increased flagellar number, sperm cells of Phylloglossum ( Figure 8B) resemble those of Huperzia, Diphasiastrum, and Lycopodium in nuclear shape and organellar complement.…”

“…Male gametes of Lycopodiaceae are slightly coiled in Huperzia, Diphasiastrum, Lycopodium, and Phylloglossum and more ovoid in Lycopodiella and Palhinhaea (Figures 6B to D,7B,8A,B) (Robbins and Carothers, 1978;Renzaglia and Whittier, 1993;Maden et al, 1996Maden et al, , 1997. The spline is broad (up to 200 microtubules wide) at the anterior, and it decreases to a narrow band (17 to 40 microtubules) that cups the cell posterior and extends beyond the nucleus ( Figures 6C, D, 7B).…”

“…Although highly significant as a taxonomic marker, the variability in this feature of the multilayered structure has been elucidated only recently (Maden et al, 1996(Maden et al, , 1997. Graham (1993) stated that in contrast to charophytes where the angle is consistently 90 o , the angle between lamellae and microtubules in archegoniate sperm approximates 45 o .…”

“…In general, flagellar length coincides with the length of the cell body. Exceptions include hornwort and lycophyte sperm where the flagella are more than twice as long as the cell proper (Moser et al, 1977;Maden et al, 1996Maden et al, , 1997. Flagella of archegoniate gametes differ from flagella in algal motile cells in that they are surrounded by morphologically undifferentiated plasmalemma.…”