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. 1982 Nov 15;208(2):269–273. doi: 10.1042/bj2080269

Cellular content and biosynthesis of polyamines during rooster spermatogenesis.

R Oliva, S Vidal, C Mezquita
PMCID: PMC1153961  PMID: 7159401

Abstract

The natural polyamines spermine and spermidine, and the diamine putrescine, were extracted from rooster testis cells separated by sedimentation at unit gravity, and from vas-deferens spermatozoa. The ratios spermine/DNA and spermidine/DNA were kept relatively constant throughout spermatogenesis, whereas the ratio putrescine/DNA rose in elongated spermatids. The cellular content of spermine, spermidine and putrescine decreased markedly in mature spermatozoa. Two rate-limiting enzymes in the biosynthetic pathway of polyamines, ornithine decarboxylase and S-adenosyl-L-methionine decarboxylase, showed their highest activities at the end of spermiogenesis and were not detectable in vas-deferens spermatozoa. A marked reduction in cell volume during spermiogenesis without a parallel decrease in the cellular content of polyamines suggests the possibility that the marked changes in chromatin composition and structure occurring in rooster late spermatids could take place in an ambience of high polyamine concentration.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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