A proposal is being submitted to acquire an ultramicrotome, an anti-vibration table and a knife-maker. There are four proposed projects submitted. Project one will study the fine structure of the skink (lizard) spermatozoan and its development. Its principle aim will be to elucidate the fine structure of the centriolar region (between head and tail) of the lizard sperm and to describe the process of spermatogenesis in the southern united states skinks of the genus Eumeces. Project two is aimed at elucidating the details of hormone-receptor binding between gonadotrophins (LH) and the mouse epididymis at the ultrastructural level. Results so far obtained at the light microscope level indicate a possible concentration of receptors for LH in the mouse epididymis perhaps in the Golgi complex and endoplasmic reticulum. The actual site of binding may be determined using electron microscope immunohistochemistry. Project three will study fungus-host interactions between fungal endophytes of the family Clavipitaceae (Ascomycotina) and their grass hosts with the objective of unraveling the fine structural changes of fungal and host cells that permit the two organisms to exist mutualistically. The fourth project will examine several isolates of Haemophilus somnus, a bacterium that is the causative agent of thromboembolic meningoencephalitis and certain types of reproductive failure in cattle, for possible presence of a capsule, with the objective of discovering its method of adherence to host cells.
