Folia Parasitologica 59[1] 32-42 (2012) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2012.006

Spermiogenesis and spermatozoon of the liver fluke Mediogonimus jourdanei (Microphalloidea: Prosthogonimidae), a parasite of Myodes glareolus (Rodentia: Cricetidae)

Abdoulaye J.S. Bakhoum^1,2, Carlos Feliu^1,2, Cheikh Tidiane Bâ³, Jordi Miquel^1,2

¹ Laboratori de Parasitologia, Departament de Microbiologia i Parasitologia Sanitàries, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Joan XXIII, s/n, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain

² Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal, 645, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain

³ Laboratoire de Parasitologie-Helminthologie, Département de Biologie animale, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, B.P. 5005, Dakar, Senegal

Spermatological characters of the liver fluke Mediogonimus jourdanei Mas-Coma et Rocamora, 1978 were studied by means of transmission and scanning electron microscopy. Spermiogenesis begins with the formation of the differentiation zone containing two centrioles associated with striated rootlets and an intercentriolar body. These two centrioles originate two free flagella that undergo a 90° rotation before fusing with the median cytoplasmic process. Both nuclear and mitochondrial migrations toward the median cytoplasmic process occur before the proximodistal fusion of flagella. Finally, the constriction of the ring of arched membranes gives rise to the young spermatozoon. The mature sperm of M. jourdanei measures about 260 µm and presents two axonemes of different lengths with the typical pattern of the Trepaxonemata, two bundles of parallel cortical microtubules, one mitochondrion, a nucleus and granules of glycogen. An analysis of all the microphalloidean species studied to date emphasised some differences in certain characters found in Maritrema linguilla Jägerskiöld, 1908 and Ganeo tigrinum Mehra et Negi, 1928 in comparison to those in the remaining microphalloideans. The presence and variability of such ultrastructural characters according to family, superfamily or order have led several authors to propose their use in the analysis of trematode relationships and phylogeny. Therefore, apart from producing new data on the family Prosthogonimidae, the present study also compares the spermatological organization of M. jourdanei with other available ultrastructural studies focusing on the Microphalloidea.

Keywords: Mediogonimus jourdanei, Prosthogonimidae, Microphalloidea, Digenea, ultrastructure, SEM, TEM, spermiogenesis, spermatozoon

Received: September 12, 2011; Accepted: October 7, 2011; Published: February 23, 2012  Show citation