scholarly journals 62. Sperm proacrosin/acrosin system in two marsupial species, the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) and the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii)

2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
K. S. Sidhu ◽  
K. E. Mate ◽  
F. C. Molinia ◽  
J. C. Rodger
Keyword(s):  
Tammar Wallaby ◽  
Brushtail Possum ◽  
Trichosurus Vulpecula ◽  
Macropus Eugenii ◽  
Marsupial Species

Limb development in pouch young of the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) and tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii)

2006 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
pp. 060606025751023-???
Author(s):  
R. G. Lentle ◽  
M. C. Kruger ◽  
D. J. Mellor ◽  
M. Birtles ◽  
P. J. Moughan
Keyword(s):  
Limb Development ◽  
Tammar Wallaby ◽  
Brushtail Possum ◽  
Trichosurus Vulpecula ◽  
Macropus Eugenii

Ontogeny and pathway of formation of 5α-androstane-3α,17β-diol in the testes of the immature brushtail possum Trichosurus vulpecula

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 603 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean D. Wilson ◽  
Geoffrey Shaw ◽  
Marilyn B. Renfree ◽  
Richard J. Auchus ◽  
Michael W. Leihy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Performance Liquid Chromatography ◽  
Liquid Chromatography ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Tammar Wallaby ◽  
Brushtail Possum ◽  
Trichosurus Vulpecula ◽  
Mature Adults ◽  
Immature Male ◽  
Marsupial Species ◽  
Age Range

The testicular androgen 5α-androstane-3α,17β-diol (androstanediol) mediates virilisation in pouch young of a marsupial, the tammar wallaby, and is the principal androgen formed in immature rodent testes. To chart the pattern of androstanediol formation in another marsupial species, the testes or fragments of testes from brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) that spanned the age range from early pouch young to mature adults were incubated with 3H-progesterone and the products were identified by high-performance liquid chromatography. The only 19-carbon steroids identified in pouch young and adult testes were the Δ4-3-keto-steroids testosterone and androstenedione. However, androstanediol and another 5α-reduced androgen (androsterone) were synthesised by testes from Day 87–200 males and these appeared to be formed from the 5α-reduction and 3-keto reduction of testosterone and androstenedione. In the prostate and glans penis of the immature male, 3H-androstanediol was converted to dihydrotestosterone. We conclude that the timing of androstanediol formation in the possum testis resembles the process in rodents rather than in the tammar wallaby and that any androstanediol in the circulation probably acts in target tissues via conversion to dihydrotestosterone.

scholarly journals Acrosome formation during sperm transit through the epididymis in two marsupials, the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii) and the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)

1999 ◽  
Vol 194 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-232
Author(s):  
MINJIE LIN ◽  
JOHN C. RODGER
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Information ◽  
Dorsal Surface ◽  
Tammar Wallaby ◽  
Sperm Head ◽  
The Body ◽  
Brushtail Possum ◽  
Trichosurus Vulpecula ◽  
Macropus Eugenii ◽  
Acrosomal Membrane ◽  
Acrosome Formation

In certain Australian marsupials including the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii) and the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula), formation of the acrosome is not completed in the testis but during a complex differentiation process as spermatozoa pass through the epididymis. Using transmission and scanning electron microscopy this paper defined the process of acrosome formation in the epididymis, providing temporal and spatial information on the striking reorganisation of the acrosomal membranes and matrix and of the overlying sperm surface involved. On leaving the testis wallaby and possum spermatozoa had elongated ‘scoop’-shaped acrosomes projecting from the dorsal surface of the head. During passage down the epididymis, this structure condensed into the compact button-like organelle found on ejaculated spermatozoa. This condensation was achieved by a complex process of infolding and fusion of the lateral projections of the ‘scoop’. In the head of the epididymis the rims of the lateral scoop projections became shorter and thickened and folded inwards, to eventually meet midway along the longitudinal axis of the acrosome. As spermatozoa passed through the body of the epididymis the lateral projections fused together. Evidence of this fusion of the immature outer acrosomal membrane is the presence of vesicles within the acrosomal matrix which persist even in ejaculated spermatozoa. When spermatozoa have reached the tail of the epididymis the acrosome condenses into its mature form, as a small button-like structure contained within the depression on the anterior end of the nucleus. During the infolding process, the membranes associated with the immature acrosome are either engulfed into the acrosomal matrix (outer acrosomal membrane), or eliminated from the sperm head as tubular membrane elements (cytoplasmic membrane). Thus the surface and organelles of the testicular sperm head are transient structures in those marsupials with posttesticular acrosome formation and this must be taken into consideration in attempts to dissect the cell and molecular biology of fertilisation.

Changes in milk carbohydrates during lactation in the common brushtail possum, Trichosurus vulpecula (Marsupialia:Phalangeridae)

1989 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 309 ◽  
Author(s):  
EA Crisp ◽  
PE Cowan ◽  
M Messer
Keyword(s):  
Tammar Wallaby ◽  
Brushtail Possum ◽  
Trichosurus Vulpecula ◽  
Macropus Eugenii ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Milk Samples ◽  
Nucleotide Pyrophosphatase ◽  
The Common ◽  
Quantitative Changes ◽  
Beta Galactosidase

Milk samples (186) were obtained at various stages of lactation from 27 common brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula). Qualitative and quantitative changes in the milk carbohydrates during early and mid-lactation were similar to those previously seen in other marsupials; the principal carbohydrate was lactose early in lactation and higher oligosaccharides in mid-lactation, and the hexose concentration reached a peak during mid-lactation. However, the late-lactation milk was unusual in that the carbohydrate was mainly lactose and its concentration remained relatively high (3.5 to 5.5%). In contrast to earlier findings on the milk of the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii), little or no nucleotide pyrophosphatase, beta-galactosidase and alkaline phosphatase activities were detected late in lactation.

scholarly journals Isolation and partial characterization of the outer dense fibres and fibrous sheath from the sperm tail of a marsupial: the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)

Reproduction ◽  
2001 ◽  
pp. 373-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Ricci ◽  
WG Breed
Keyword(s):  
Sucrose Density Gradient ◽  
Blue Staining ◽  
Brushtail Possum ◽  
Trichosurus Vulpecula ◽  
Fibrous Sheath ◽  
Sperm Tail ◽  
Coomassie Blue Staining ◽  
Fibre Network ◽  
Molecular Masses ◽  
Marsupial Species

The flagellum of a mammalian spermatozoon consists of a central axoneme surrounded by two cytoskeletal structures, the outer dense fibres and the fibrous sheath, which may aid in sperm motility or stability. In this study the outer dense fibres and fibrous sheath were isolated and partially characterized in a marsupial species, the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula). Spermatozoa from the cauda epididymidis were decapitated by sonication, and the head and tail fractions were separated by centrifugation over a 20, 40 and 60% (w/v) sucrose density gradient. After confirming sperm tail purity by Nomarski microscopy, the tails were incubated in either SDS-dithiothreitol to isolate the outer dense fibres or urea-dithiothreitol to isolate the fibrous sheaths. Purified outer dense fibres and fibrous sheaths were solubilized in SDS and beta-mercaptoethanol and proteins were separated by one-dimensional PAGE. Coomassie blue staining showed that the outer dense fibres were composed of seven major proteins (molecular masses: 73, 58, 55, 54, 52, 41 and 16 kDa), and the fibrous sheath was composed of 12 major proteins (molecular masses: 106, 76, 66, 62, 55, 53, 52, 46, 40, 30, 28 and 16 kDa). A polyclonal antibody to the fibrous sheath proteins showed strong crossreactivity with those of fibrous sheath from spermatozoa of several other marsupial species, as well as those from laboratory rats. Subsequent western blotting identified the immunoreactive 76 and 62 kDa proteins from all species, thus indicating their high conservation between species. No crossreactivity of the fibrous sheath antibody to any other cytoskeletal structures, including the outer dense fibres, mid-piece fibre network or connecting laminae, or to the acrosome or underlying subacrosomal material, was evident, indicating that the fibrous sheath proteins are localized to this structure alone. Further work is in progress to determine the extent of homology of these proteins to those in eutherian mammals.

scholarly journals A flow cytometric assay for global estimation of tyrosine phosphorylation associated with capacitation of spermatozoa from two marsupial species, the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii) and the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)

Reproduction ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 127 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
K S Sidhu ◽  
K E Mate ◽  
T Gunasekera ◽  
D Veal ◽  
L Hetherington ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tyrosine Phosphorylation ◽  
Kinase Inhibitor ◽  
Fluorescein Isothiocyanate ◽  
Tammar Wallaby ◽  
Progressive Increase ◽  
Brushtail Possum ◽  
Sperm Capacitation ◽  
Flow Cytometric ◽  
Signal Transduction Event ◽  
Marsupial Species

The phosphorylation of tyrosine residues in cellular proteins is a major signal transduction event during sperm capacitation. In this study protein phosphorylation was monitored using a fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled antiphosphotyrosine monoclonal antibody and a flow cytometric procedure optimized for sperm. Using this technique, the correlation between tyrosine phosphorylation and sperm capacitation was examined in two marsupial species, the brushtail possum and the tammar wallaby and compared with that of ram spermatozoa. The levels of tyrosine phosphorylation in sperm from all three species were increased by the addition of cyclic AMP (cAMP) and vandate, a phosphotyrosine phosphatase inhibitor and were decreased by the addition of the phosphotyrosine kinase inhibitor, staurosporine. Oviductal conditioned media (CM) induced a progressive increase in tyrosine phosphorylation in both marsupial species and also induced morphological transition from a streamlined to a ‘T’-shape configuration in brushtail possum spermatozoa but not in tammar wallaby spermatozoa. Transition to the ‘T’-shape orientation associated with capacitation in marsupial spermatozoa was observed by 2 h of incubation in both species when tyrosine phosphorylation was increased by higher levels of cAMP i.e. 5 mM dibutyryl cAMP plus 3 mM pentoxyphylline. Thus the tyrosine phosphorylation trigger with CM may differ in these two marsupial species. Ram sperm tyrosine phosphorylation could be increased by addition of lower levels of cAMP (1 mM). These results support the finding that tyrosine phosphorylation is associated with sperm capacitation in marsupials. Similar results were obtained by using SDS PAGE/Western blot analysis of tyrosine phosphorylation in the brushtail possum spermatozoa. The specificity, efficiency and sensitivity of the procedure described here make it applicable for routine assessment of capacitation in large numbers of samples and in other species.

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