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A test of the functional significance of the quantity of mitochondria in the spermatozoa of mice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2009

D. M. Woolley
D. M. Woolley
Affiliation:
Department of Genetics, University of Edinburgh
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Summary

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Following an experiment in which mice had been selected for the length of the mitochondrial section (midpiece) of their sperm tails, an attempt has been made to determine experimentally the adaptive significance of this character; this was by the artificial insemination of mixtures of selected and unselected (control) spermatozoa, and the subsequent disclosure of their competitive fertilizing ability in the paternity of the offspring. After the birth of nearly 500 offspring, there was no indication that the control cells were—by this criterion—functionally superior. From the discrepancy between the pairs of males sampled, however, it is possible that other biological or technical factors have been important.

Type
Short Papers
Information
Genetics Research , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , October 1970 , pp. 225 - 228
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1970

References

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