Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T04:53:21.322Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

V.—Genetics of Gametes. V. The Frequency Distribution of the Head Length of Rabbit Spermatozoa, and a Search for Dimorphism*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2012

R. A. Beatty
R. A. Beatty
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Council Unit of Animal Genetics, Institute of Animal Genetics, Edinburgh
Get access

Synopsis

The possible effect of genes on the spermatozoa carrying them can be investigated by searching for two kinds of spermatozoa in the semen of heterozygous males. During the development of appropriate biometrical methods, it became desirable to specify more exactly the basic form of variation in size between spermatozoa sampled from the same ejaculate and mounted on the same nigrosin-eosin preparation. The present study of the head length of rabbit spermatozoa indicates that apart from rare spermatozoa with exceptional dimensions the variation of spermatozoa on a preparation follows almost completely a “normal” distribution, the variance being independent of the mean and homogeneous from one preparation to another. The coefficients of skewness (g1) and of kurtosis (g2) and the statistic k4, average close to zero, g2 and k4 being homogeneous between preparations. There is evidence of heterogeneity in skewness between preparations, but the reality of the heterogeneity is not quite certain. A potential dimorphism between spermatozoa bearing X- and Y-chromosomes is inherent in the material, but analysis showed no significant evidence of any dimorphism in head length.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences , Volume 68 , Issue 1 , 1961 , pp. 72 - 82
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1961

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References to Literature

Beatty, R. A., 1957. “Nigrosin-eosin Staining of Rabbit Spermatozoa and the Fertility of Semen”, Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., B, 67, 1–31.Google Scholar
Beatty, R. A., and Napier, R. A. N., 1960 a. “Genetics of Gametes. I. A Quantitative Analysis of Five Characteristics of Rabbit Spermatozoa”, Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., B, 68, 1–16.Google Scholar
Beatty, R. A., and Napier, R. A. N., 1960 b. “Genetics of Gametes. II. Strain Differences in Characteristics of Rabbit Spermatozoa”, Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., B, 68, 17–24.Google Scholar
Beatty, R. A., and Sharma, K. N., 1960. “Genetics of Gametes. III. Strain Differences in Spermatozoa from Eight Inbred Strains of Mice”, Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., B, 68, 25–53.Google Scholar
Fisher, R. A., 1930. Statistical Methods for Research Workers. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Goulden, C. H., 1947. Methods of Statistical Analysis. 5th Printing. Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Kendall, M. G., and Stuart, A., 1958. The Advanced Theory of Statistics. Three-volume edition, Vol. I. Griffin and Co., London.Google Scholar
Lush, J. L., 1925. “The Possibility of Sex Control by Artificial Insemination with Centrifuged Spermatozoa”, J. Agric. Res., 30, 893–913.Google ScholarPubMed
Snedecor, G. W., 1956. Statistical Methods. 5th Ed. Iowa State College Press.Google Scholar
Sharma, K. N., 1960. “Genetics of Gametes. IV. The Phenotype of Mouse Spermatozoa in Four Inbred Strains and Their F1 Crosses”, Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., B, 68, 54–71.Google Scholar
Walton, A., 1945. Notes on the Technique of Artificial Insemination. The Holborn Surgical Instrument Co., Ltd., London.Google Scholar