ArticleBMC evolutionary biology2011
Sperm structure and motility in the eusocial naked mole-rat, Heterocephalus glaber: a case of degenerative orthogenesis in the absence of sperm competition?
Article in BMC evolutionary biology, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 56 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Parallel Erosion of a Testis-Specific Na+/K+ ATPase in Three Mammalian Lineages Sheds Light into the Evolution of Spermatozoa Energetics.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Unusual Sperm Morphology in Two Sedentary Songbird Species.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Naked mole rat ovaries allow investigation of ovarian reserve, in vitro germ cell expansion, and oocyte in vitro maturation within a single sample.Reproduction (Cambridge, England) · 2024Article
- The evolution of centriole degradation in mouse sperm.Nature communications · 2024Article
- In vitro production of naked mole-rats' blastocysts from non-breeding females using in vitro maturation and intracytoplasmic sperm injection.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Evaluation of toxic effects of dapagliflozin on reproductive system in diabetic rats.Turkish journal of medical sciences · 2022Article
- Stress in an underground empire.Biology letters · 2022Review
- Occurrence of Calcium Oscillations in Human Spermatozoa Is Based on Spatial Signaling Enzymes Distribution.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Article
- Status of Sperm Functionality Assessment in Wildlife Species: From Fish to Primates.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2021Review
- Reproductive effects of subchronic exposure to acetamiprid in male rats.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Editorial: Sperm Differentiation and Spermatozoa Function: Mechanisms, Diagnostics, and Treatment.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2020Article
- Testicular Structure and Spermatogenesis in the Naked Mole-Rat Is Unique (Degenerate) and Atypical Compared to Other Mammals.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2019Article
- Naked mole-rat transcriptome signatures of socially suppressed sexual maturation and links of reproduction to aging.BMC biology · 2018Article
- Intramembranal disulfide cross-linking elucidates the super-quaternary structure of mammalian CatSpers.Reproductive biology · 2018Article
- Nuclear morphologies: their diversity and functional relevance.Chromosoma · 2017Review
- Article
- Non-Breeding Eusocial Mole-Rats Produce Viable Sperm--Spermiogram and Functional Testicular Morphology of Fukomys anselli.PloS one · 2016Article
- Postcopulatory sexual selection results in spermatozoa with more uniform head and flagellum sizes in rodents.PloS one · 2014Article
- Investigation of anti-cancer mechanisms by comparative analysis of naked mole rat and rat.BMC systems biology · 2013Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWe have studied sperm structure and motility in a eusocial rodent where reproduction is typically restricted to a single male and behaviourally dominant queen. Males rarely compete for access to the queen during her estrus cycle, suggesting little or no role for sperm competition.
resultsOur results revealed an atypical mammalian sperm structure with spermatozoa from breeding, subordinate and disperser males being degenerate and almost completely lacking a "mammalian phylogenetic stamp". Sperm structure is characterized by extreme polymorphism with most spermatozoa classified as abnormal. Sperm head shapes include round, oval, elongated, lobed, asymmetrical and amorphous. At the ultrastructural level, the sperm head contains condensed to granular chromatin with large open spaces between the chromatin. Nuclear chromatin seems disorganized since chromatin condensation is irregular and extremely inconsistent. The acrosome forms a cap (ca 35%) over the anterior part of the head. A well defined nuclear fossa and neck with five minor sets of banded protein structures are present. The midpiece is poorly organized and contains only 5 to 7 round to oval mitochondria. The flagellar pattern is 9+9+2. A distinct degenerative feature of the tail principal piece is the absence of the fibrous sheath. Only 7% motile spermatozoa were observed which had exceptionally slow swimming speeds.
conclusionIn this species, sperm form has simplified and degenerated in many aspects and represents a specialised form of degenerative orthogenesis at the cellular level.
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