Temporal deposition and spatial distribution of cytoskeletal proteins in the sperm head of an Australian rodent.

The Australian murine rodent, the plains mouse (Pseudomys australis), possesses a highly complex sperm head, in which there are, in addition to an apical hook, two ventral processes that extend from its upper concave surface. The present study set out to determine the temporal deposition and distribution of the proteins within these structures during late spermiogenesis by light and electron microscopy using various antibodies to bull and laboratory rat sperm-head cytoskeletal proteins. The findings show that there are two phases of protein deposition.