Changes in Sperm Morphology, Morphometry, and Motility from the Epididymis to the Vas Deferens in Rheas (Rhea americana, Linnaeus, 1758)

The rhea (Rhea americana) is nearly threatened in nature, while playing important ecological and economic roles. Therefore, the study of its reproductive biology is necessary to provide information that will serve as a basis for its conservation through natural breeding and reproductive biotechnologies. We characterized rhea spermatozoa and analyzed changes that occur in the cells during the transit between the epididymis to the vas deferens (based on sperm motility, morphology, morphometry, and ultrastructure). We reveal, for the first time, that rhea spermatozoa undergo an increase in size and motility throughout their transit in the spermatic pathways. The objective was to characterize morphological, morphometric, and ultrastructural changes in rhea spermatozoa between the epididymis and the vas deferens. Sperm samples were collected from the reproductive tracts of seven adult individuals and evaluated for sperm characteristics using brightfield microscopy as well as ultrastructural features using scanning electron microscopy (SM). Mean sperm count tended to increase in the vas deferens (378.0 +/- 135.0 x 10(6)) compared to the epididymis (201.0 +/- 77.4 x 10(6)). Percentages of motile sperm grew from 37.0 +/- 4.9% in the epididymis to 58.5 +/- 7.7% in the vas deferens. The proportion of normal spermatozoa was 75.6 +/- 1.8% and most common defects were bent tails (9.7 +/- 0.9%). However, these proportions were not different between epididymis and vas deferens. SM analysis revealed further features of rhea spermatozoa. Normal rhea spermatozoa were threadlike with an acrosome (0.95 +/- 0.0 mu m), head (7.53 +/- 0.01 mu m), midpiece (2.08 +/- 0.01 mu m), and tail (30.7 +/- 0.06 mu m). Lengths of sperm acrosome, head, midpiece, and tail were longer in the vas deferens compared to the epididymis. Our findings suggest that rhea spermatozoa undergo a maturation process during the passage from the epididymis to the vas deferens.

Automated summary

The rhea is nearly threatened in nature but has important ecological and economic roles. Studying its reproductive biology is necessary for conservation purposes. The study found that rhea spermatozoa undergo changes in size and motility during transit from the epididymis to the vas deferens. The length of different parts of the sperm also increases in the vas deferens compared to the epididymis.