Detection of a mutation in the intron of Sperm-specific glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene in patients with fibrous sheath dysplasia of the sperm flagellum.

The fibrous sheath is a unique cytoskeletal structure surrounding the axoneme and outer dense fibres of the sperm flagellum. Dysplasia of the fibrous sheath (DFS) is a defect of spermatozoa observed in severe asthenozoospermic patients and characterised by morphologically abnormal flagella with distorted fibrous sheaths. Sperm-specific glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDS) is a glycolytic enzyme that is tightly associated with the fibrous sheath of the sperm flagellum.

Quantitative and ultrastructural analysis of the chondriome in ovogenesis and embryogenesis of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus.

The dynamics of chondriome in the ovogenesis of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus was studied. Growing oocytes 20-30, 50-60 and 90-100 microm in diameter ("small", "medium-sized" and "large", respectively) and mature eggs were used for the ultrastructural and stereological analysis of mitochondria. Linear parameters of mitochondria (length and thickness) were measured on 3-D reconstructions of serial ultrathin sections using the software developed in the laboratory.