MORPHOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS OF TURKEY (MELEAGRIS-GALLOPAVO) SPERMIOPHAGES MAINTAINED IN TISSUE-CULTURE

Spermiophages were isolated from turkey semen using Percoll gradient centrifugation, cultured in Roswell Park Memorial Institute 1640 medium at room temperature, and characterized by transmission electron microscopy. After 1 to 2 h, the cells enlarged and developed numerous motile mitochondria. Over time, the mitochondria appeared to increase in number and were released into the extracellular medium. Few mitochondria were observed in spermiophages from fresh semen. However, there was an apparent increase in the number and size of mitochondria after Percoll isolation, which was more pronounced in cultured spermiophages. Over a period of 3 h in culture, many spermiophages became engorged with mitochondria, which subsequently appeared to be released as blebs pinched off from the surface. The release of mitochondria resulted in spermiophages with large, empty vacuoles, although their remaining cytoplasm was engorged with mitochondria. Many free mitochondria were present in the medium. The results of the current research suggest that isolating and culturing turkey spermiophages elicit mitochondrial biogenesis, which proceeds unabated until the cells are engorged with and release numerous mitochondria. This may be due to conditions under which the spermiophages were cultured or to nonhistocompatibility of these cells in pooled semen.