Analysis Tools
reproductive system
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• female homozygotes are fertile with pregnancy rates and litter size comparable to wild-type controls
• male homozygotes show no alterations in epididymis size, testis morphology and weight, or seminiferous tubule diameter relative to wild-type controls
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• number of mature sperm obtained from the cauda epididymis is severely reduced
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• all of the few mature sperm recovered show severe morphological defects, including malformed heads or broken tails
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• few mature sperm recovered are completely immotile
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• round spermatids positive for the acrosomal marker peanut agglutinin (PNA) are present in the cauda epididymis
• in testis sections, step 15 and 16 elongated spermatids fail to line up in a circle at the lumen of stage VII/VIII seminiferous tubules
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• spermatogenesis is blocked at the VII/VIII stage
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• male homozygotes are unable to impregnate wild-type females upon mating
• however, mating behavior is normal, as determined by the presence of copulatory plugs
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cellular
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• number of mature sperm obtained from the cauda epididymis is severely reduced
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• all of the few mature sperm recovered show severe morphological defects, including malformed heads or broken tails
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• few mature sperm recovered are completely immotile
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