On the development of midpiece mitochondria of mouse spermatozoa

As seen by scanning electron microscopy, the mitochondrial helix in the developing midpiece of mouse testicular spermatozoa is dextral in direction and consists of spherical mitochondrial units arranged in an orderly array of four units per gyre: three appearing in face view and a fourth hidden from view at the back of the gyre. As the spermatozoa mature, the dextral helix is transformed into a sinistral helix. Its constituent spherical mitochondria either change direction abruptly without changing shape; or having first become semilunar or diamond-shaped, they change direction gradually. Mitochondrial division follows the change in helical pitch producing a double sinistral helix. The spherical (or semilunar/diamond-shaped) mitochondria presumably elongate to form the units of the mature midpiece.