104 



The Biochemistry of Semen 



assumed to possess only one-half of the amount of deoxyribonucleic 

 acid present in the somatic nuclei of a given species (Boivin, Vendrely 

 and Vendrely, 1948; Vendrely and Vendrely, 1948, 1949, 1952; 

 Mirsky and Ris, 1949, 1951; a review by Colette Vendrely, 1952). 

 To illustrate this point, Table 1 5 gives data on the content of deoxy- 

 ribonucleic acid in the sperm (haploid) nuclei and in the somatic 

 (diploid or polyploid) cell nuclei of various species. The values 

 range from 0- 1 1 x 10~^ mg. for the diploid nucleus of a sponge cell to 

 168x10"^ for a diploid cell nucleus of Amphiuma, a urodele; the 

 nucleic acid in the spermatozoa of the carp, trout, pike, tench, toad, 

 cock and bull, is seen to be approximately one-half the content of 

 the somatic cell nuclei. A high proportion of the data listed in 

 Table 15, were obtained by means of the analytical procedures 



Table 15. Deoxyribonucleic acid content of single nuclei in 

 somatic cells and spermatozoa 



(Contents expressed in mg. x 10~^ deoxyribonucleic acid per cell nucleus; 

 figures in brackets refer to authors.) 



