Light and Electron Microscope Studies on Lipid Stained by Malachite Green in the Male Reproductive Tract of the Rabbit, Hamster and Mongoose

Summary. Reproductive tracts from male rabbits, hamsters and mongooses were fixed in glutaraldehyde containing malachite green. The technique stains phospholipids, glycolipids, fatty acids and cholesterol, and is known to retain a lipid within spermatozoa which is lost during conventional fixation. In rabbit spermatozoa, the lipid has been identified as choline plasmalogen, which accumulates in the post-acrosomal region of the head during epididymal transit. In testes, malachite green stained Leydig cell granules and cytoplasmic inclusions in maturing spermatids. Large quantities of stained material were evident in the epididymides and accessory glands, including basal cell lysosomes which increased in size and frequency after castration, supranuclear cytosome-like bodies, material associated with smooth endoplasmic reticulum, vesicles distributed throughout the principal cells of the epithelium and material around the stereocilia of the epididymis. Amounts of material in the epididymal lumen increased markedly from caput to cauda, indicating active secretion.