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. 2021 Nov 16;7:110. doi: 10.1038/s41421-021-00327-5

Fig. 4. Ultrastructure analyses for Wdr63-KO male mice show a severely disorganized axoneme disorganization arrangement.

Fig. 4

a Longitudinal sections of spermatozoon mid-piece in adult male mice. Wdr63+/+ male mice sperm had a symmetrical mid-piece with smooth axoneme surrounding with a regularly arranged mitochondrial sheath. In contrast, Wdr63−/− male mice showed a seriously disorganized ODF and deficient of axoneme and mitochondrial sheath. Scale bars, 2 μm. b, c Cross-sections of spermatozoon flagella the mid-piece, principal piece, and end-piece in adult male mice. Wdr63+/+ male mice show the typical “9 + 2” microtubule structure, whereas nearly all spermatozoon of Wdr63−/− male mice show severe disorganized “9 + 2” axoneme. Scale bars, 200 nm. d Schematic of spermatozoon flagella cross-sections ultrastructure in Wdr63+/+ and Wdr63−/− male mice. Abbreviations: Nu, nucleus; Acr, acrosome; DMT, peripheral microtubule doublets; ODF, outer dense fibers; CP, central pair of microtubules; Mt, mitochondrial sheath; ODA, outer dynein arms (red arrows); IDA, inner dynein arms (blue arrows). For c, n = 3 and the bars represent means ± SEM. The statistical analysis was carried out using One-way ANOVA test, ** denotes P < 0.01.