Non-Canonical Male Meiosis in a Marine Gastropod, Littorina saxatilis

An atypical course of male meiosis in Littorina saxatilis from zygotene to early anaphase I has been established, which includes non-canonical stages-diffuse and karyosomal. In diakinesis, a structural stepwise transition of bivalents from a single-thread, homogeneously colored form to a double-thread and banded form was discovered. In early diakinesis, in addition to bivalents without pronounced chiasmata, which constitute the majority, rare cruciform short bivalents with one chiasma are revealed. In mid-diakinesis, two or three types of bivalents with one or two chiasmata and several achiasmatic bivalents are identified. In late diakinesis-metaphase I-seven types of bivalents were distinguished, bearing from one to three chiasmata. Some bivalents of the set showed noticeable chiasmata only in early anaphase I. Therefore, the course of diakinesis in L. saxatilis male meiosis is rather atypical. In pachytene, mid- and late diakinesis, and partly in metaphase I, individual bivalents of the L. saxatilis set are reliably identified because they exhibit chromomeric patterns similar to those of the G-banded prometaphase chromosomes of early embryos and spermatogonial mitotic cells. Our research provides a cytological basis for further studies of conservation/variability and evolution of male meiosis.