Abstract
When fructose was established as the normal nutrient material for spermatozoa and its origin traced to the seminal vesicles1, it remained to be explained how certain animals, such as the rabbit, secrete fructose in semen in spite of the absence of seminal vesicles. The rabbit, however, has a large complex organ, sometimes referred to as the ‘prostate’, which has been described hitherto as composed of three glands, ‘gl. seminalis’, ‘gl. vesicularis’ and ‘prostate proper’, each with an independent urethral outlet2. However, our recent investigation of the development of the male reproductive system in the rabbit has established that the gl. seminalis develops in conjunction with the gl. vesicularis from the same diverticulum of the Wolffian duct; further, both glands possess a common urethral outlet, and gl. vesicularis as a whole, rather than the gl. seminalis by itself, should be regarded as homologous to the seminal vesicle in other mammals3. This, incidentally, explains the presence of fructose in the gl. vesiecularis. It should be pointed out, however, that in the rabbit, apart from this gland, fructose also occurs in the ampulla of the vas deferens as well as in the ‘prostate proper’. The distribution of fructose in the various parts of the reproductive system of the male rabbit is shown in the accompanying sketch.
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References
Mann, T., Biochem. J., 40, 481 (1946).
Leydolph, W., Z. mikr.-anat. Forsch., 19, 285 (1930).
Davies, D. V., and Mann, T., Proc. Anat. Soc., April 25, 1947.
Mann, T., and Parsons, U., see preceding communication.
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DAVIES, D., MANN, T. Functional Development of Accessory Glands and Spermatogenesis. Nature 160, 295 (1947). https://doi.org/10.1038/160295a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/160295a0
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