ArticleReproductive biology and endocrinology : RB&E2019
Comparative analysis of mammalian sperm ultrastructure reveals relationships between sperm morphology, mitochondrial functions and motility.
Article in Reproductive biology and endocrinology : RB&E, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 72 papers.
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Who cites it
72 citing papers in PubMed.
- Proteomic Landscape of Spermatozoa Under Inflammatory and Oxidative Injury: Molecular Mechanisms and Clinical Translation.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Current Advances in Cetacean Semen Cryopreservation and Their Application to Yangtze Finless Porpoise Conservation.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Review
- Coenzyme Q10 Improves Functional and Structural Parameters of Dairy Goat Sperm During Cooling and Cryopreservation.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Sperm mitochondrial sheath formation - how and why?Nature reviews. Urology · 2026Review
- The spermatozoon neck role in infertility and intracytoplasmic sperm injection outcomes.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2026Review
- 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
- In vivo semen characterization and seasonal variation in Procavia capensis.Reproduction & fertility · 2026Article
- Riboflavin Increases Goat Sperm Motility via Enhancement of Mitochondrial β-Oxidation.Biology · 2025Article
- Assessment of deep morphology and cryodamage in spermatozoa of indigenous and exotic pig breeds from the Northeast Indian Himalayas using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).Open veterinary journal · 2025Article
- The S-depalmitoylase ABHD10 is essential for sperm mitochondrial sheath formation and male fertility.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Non-human primates as a translational model for the study of male reproductive health.Nature reviews. Urology · 2025Review
- Colony-stimulating factor-1 as a potential therapeutic target in asthenozoospermia.Reproductive biology and endocrinology : RB&E · 2025Article
- scRNA-seq deciphers molecular mechanisms of endocrine disruptor 4-nonylphenol impairing spermatogenesis in mice.Cell biology and toxicology · 2025Article
- D-Mannose-Mediated metabolic pathways sustain the molecular signatures of sperm function and fertilization.Journal of advanced research · 2025Article
- CENP-A is diluted during bovine spermatogenesis and is maintained at internally positioned centromere clusters in mature bull sperm.Chromosome research : an international journal on the molecular, supramolecular and evolutionary aspects of chromosome biology · 2025Article
- A novel mechanism of sperm midpiece epididymal maturation and the role of CCDC112 in sperm midpiece formation and establishing an optimal flagella waveform.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2025Article
- Advances in Imaging Techniques for Mammalian/Human Ciliated Cell's Cilia: Insights into Structure, Function, and Dynamics.Biology · 2025Review
- Article
- Standardisation of Dog Sperm Morphology Classification.Reproduction in domestic animals = Zuchthygiene · 2025Article
- Seminal plasma metabolomics and sperm lipidomics profiles of bull semen with different total progressive motile sperm count.Journal of animal science · 2025Article
12 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSperm morphology mainly refers to the shape of the head, the length of the flagellar segments, including the midpiece, principal piece and end piece, and the size of the accessory structures, including axonemes, outer dense fibers (ODFs), mitochondrial sheath (MS) and fibrous sheath (FS). Across species, there is considerable diversity in morphology. An established theory posits that the length of the sperm flagellum, especially the length of the midpiece, is a critical factor influencing sperm metabolism and velocity. However, our understanding of the relationships between sperm ultrastructures and the sperm flagellar length is incomplete.
methodsThe morphologies of sperm from 10 mammalian species, human, mouse, rat, dog, rabbit, goat, pig, bull, guinea pig and golden hamster, were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). According to the SEM and TME images, the length of sperm heads and flagellar segments, the cross-sectional areas of the accessory structures and flagella and the width of sperm heads were measured using Image J software. The variation tendencies (referred to as slope) of the accessory structures along flagella were calculated by the linear regression method. Mitochondrial functions were measured using commercial kits. The velocities of sperm were measured using CASA software.
resultsThe three-dimensional morphologies of sperm from 10 species and the slopes of internal accessory structures along flagella were obtained. The width of the axoneme tapered slightly from the base to the tip of the sperm flagellum, and slopes of the axonemes correlated negatively with the variability in flagellar length across species. Additionally, the cross-sectional areas of the ODFs and/or the MS were positively correlated with the lengths of the midpiece, principal piece, and total flagellum, as well as with sperm velocities. Mitochondrial volumes were positively correlated with ATP content and sperm swimming velocities.
conclusionsOur results not only show the relationship between sperm internal structures, flagellar length and sperm physiology but also provide sizes of mitochondria and ODFs as new targets with which to study the regulation of sperm length and velocity.
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