Microtubules and macrotubules in fish meiosis

Abstract

During meiosis in the male of a cyprinodontid fish,Aphyosemion splendopleure, and during the organization of the spindle of division, the spindle is made of two types of tubules: microtubules (20–25 nm) and macrotubules (30–50 nm). The macrotubules are associated only with the polar region of the meiotic apparatus and are located outside the spindle of microtubules. At the end of meiosis, the spindle microtubules depolymerize whereas the macrotubules remain. One can find them throughout the entire process of spermiogenesis; later, they disappear only at the end of spermatid maturation. We have studied four populations from Cameroon, three of them with macrotubules.