Abstract
IT was noted by Kölliker1 that treatment of mammalian spermatozoa with water brings about coiling and spiralization of their tails. The present investigation, chiefly made on ejaculated bull spermatozoa, but supplemented by observations on sperms from man and rabbit, confirms these observations. Hypotonic solutions (calcium-free Ringer solution plus distilled water) induce in spermatozoa a very intense swimming without rotation around the longitudinal axes, and—with increasing hypotonicity—a progressive curving and bending of their tails which later coil into spirals (Fig. 1).
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References
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DREVIUS, LO. Spiralization in Tails of Mammalian Spermatozoa in Hypotonic Media. Nature 197, 1123–1124 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1038/1971123b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1971123b0
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