Ornithodoros moubata: spermateleosis and secretory activity of the sperm

Cytological aspects of spermateleosis in the tick Ornithodoros moubata were studied by electron microscopy. During spermateleosis, detachment of the operculum from the outer sheath of the prospermium results from the fusion of the plasma and the cisternal membranes. The fusion occurs between the shoulder of the acrosomal vesicle and the electron-dense layer of the operculum. A factor inducing vitellogenesis and egg-laying is secreted by the sperm cell after spermateleosis, and begins after the cell is almost completely devaginated. In vitro, fully devaginated spermiophores secrete most of this factor during the first 12 hr of incubation. The vitellogenesis-inducing activity of the secretion is sensitive to proteinase K (EC 3.4.21.14) digestion and correlates with the presence of two high-molecular-weight proteins in the sperm cell incubation medium.