scholarly journals OBSERVATIONS ON THE FINE STRUCTURE OF PHARYNGEAL MUSCLE IN THE PLANARIAN DUGESIA TIGRINA

1963 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 651-662 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edith Krugelis MacRae

Pharyngeal muscle of the planarian Dugesia tigrina was studied by electron microscopy after osmium tetroxide fixation. The muscle cell was observed to contain one myofibril or bundle of myofilaments parallel to its longitudinal axis. The myofilaments were of two types, different in size and distribution. No Z lines or myofilament organization into cross or helical striations were seen. Dense bodies were seen as projections from an invagination of the plasma membrane and as dense lines parallel to the myofilaments. The muscle cells are surrounded by a plasma membrane which is structurally associated with dense body projections, with vesicles and cisternae of sarcoplasmic reticulum, and with synaptic nerve endings. The cell has sarcoplasmic projections perpendicular to its long axis; these projections are seen to contain the nucleus or mitochondria and granules. Mitochondria and granules are also seen in a sarcoplasm rim around the fibril. The dense bodies may serve as attachment for thin myofilaments and function in transmission of stimuli from plasma membrane to the interior of the fibril.

1965 ◽  
Vol s3-106 (73) ◽  
pp. 15-21
Author(s):  
JOHN R. BAKER

The exocrine cells of the mouse pancreas were fixed in potassium dichromate solution, embedded in araldite or other suitable medium, and examined by electron microscopy. Almost every part of these cells is seriously distorted or destroyed by this fixative. The ergastoplasm is generally unrecognizable, the mitochondria and zymogen granules are seldom visible, and no sign of the plasma membrane, microvilli, or Golgi apparatus is seen. The contents of the nucleus are profoundly rearranged. It is seen to contain a large, dark, irregularly shaped, finely granular object; the evidence suggests that this consists of coagulated histone. The sole constituent of the cell that is well fixed is the inner nuclear membrane. The destructive properties of potassium dichromate are much mitigated when it is mixed in suitable proportions with osmium tetroxide or formaldehyde.


1974 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. B. Burt ◽  
I. M. Sandeman

Light and electron microscopy were used to describe the functional morphology of Bothrimonus sturionis in detail. In particular, the musculature, nervous system, osmoregulatory system, and tegument are dealt with, and the findings compared with those of other workers. The musculature of the scolex consists of several interrelated systems, the structure of each being discussed in relation to its function. Associated with the regular nervous system, considered typical of cestodes, is an extensive system of giant nerve fibers. The osmoregulatory system is unusual in that there are lateral "excretory" pores in many proglottides which open directly to the exterior of the worm. The microtriches of the tegument are long, like those of other primitive cestodes, and are covered by a noncellular sheath while the worm is in its gammarid host. The sheath is lost when the worm becomes established in its fish host; the nature and function of the sheath are discussed.


1973 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith F. M. Hoeniger ◽  
H.-D. Tauschel ◽  
J. L. Stokes

Sphaerotilus natans developed sheathed filaments in stationary liquid cultures and motile swarm cells in shaken ones. Electron microscopy of negatively stained preparations and thin sections showed that the sheath consists of fibrils. When the filaments were grown in broth with glucose added, the sheath was much thicker and the cells were packed with granules of poly-β-hydroxybutyrate.Swarm cells possess a subpolar tuft of 10 to 30 flagella and a polar organelle which is usually inserted in a lateral position and believed to be ribbon-shaped. The polar organelle consists of an inner layer joined by spokes to an accentuated plasma membrane. The flagellar hook terminates in a basal disk, consisting of two rings, which is connected by a central rod to a second basal disk.


1965 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Mcd. Tormey

The accumulation of ferritin by the ciliary epithelium of the adult albino rabbit has been studied by electron microscopy. The experiments have been carried out under in vitro conditions, such that any uptake observed should be the result of passive diffusion of the tracerparticles rather than the product of active metabolic processes. The cells were fixed in osmium tetroxide and embedded in Araldite. Ferritin was found localized in three areas: in rows of apparent vesicles, free in the cytoplasmic matrix, and in the basement membrane. Some of the conclusions reached are as follows. The appearance of tracer in rows of vesicles is not in itself an adequate demonstration of pinocytosis. The permeability of the plasma membrane is drastically increased by osmium tetroxide fixation, so that tracer particles are free to diffuse across the membrane and wander through the cytoplasm. These results indicate the serious danger of being misled by artifacts when colloidal particles are used as tracers.


1981 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Görög ◽  
G V R Born

The release reaction of platelets has been assumed to subserve a positive feedback mechanism responsible for their aggregation in haemostasis and thrombosis. This assumption is based mainly on in vitro experiments. Considerable uncertainty remains about the contribution of the release reaction to the initiation of haemostasis in vivo. The rapidity of the process and the presence of other tissues makes it impossible to follow the reaction quantitatively in vivo by methods which permit this in vitro. We have therefore applied quantitative electron microscopy to find out how quickly the concentration of dense bodies decreases in platelets during their haemostatic aggregation. In mice, platelets were enriched in dense bodies by pretreatment with serotonin.Mesenteric arteries were incised with a sharp blade. Bleeding was stopped by a micromanipulator-operated device about 15 sec and 60 sec after the cut. The cut segments were immediately fixed in situ with glutaraldehyde and postfixed. Serial sections were made for electron microscopy. Platelets isolated from peripheral blood of the same animal were prepared similarly. Electron micrographs were projected on to a television screen and numbers of dense bodies and total platelet areas were determined by an image analysing computer. After 15 sec there were no significant differences in numbers of dense bodies in platelets from different parts of the haemostatic plugs (8.31±0.57/100 μ2 mean ± s.e.m.) and in platelets from the blood (8.93±0.38). On the other hand, after 60 sec the parts furthest from the cut contained fewer dense bodies than the nearer parts and the overall dense body number (5.86±0.05) was considerably smaller (p<0.001) than that of platelets from the blood (14.45±0.09).The results suggest that haemostatic aggregation of platelets does not initially depend on their release reaction.


1962 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen C. Enders

Corpora lutea from the period of delayed implantation and from early postimplantation stages of the armadillo, mink, and rat were fixed in buffered osmium tetroxide-sucrose or potassium permanganate. After rapid dehydration, the portions of the corpora lutea were embedded in either methacrylate or epoxy resin. Examination of the lutein cells by electron microscopy revealed the presence, in the better preserved material, of an extensive development of tubular agranular endoplasmic reticulum. Although the membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum are the most striking feature of the lutein cells of both stages of the three animals examined, very numerous large mitochondria with cristae that exhibit a variety of forms tending toward villiform, and protrusions and foldings of the lutein cell margins on the pericapillary space are also characteristic of these cells. Certain minor differences in the lutein cells of the species examined are also noted. No indications of conversion of mitochondria into lipid, of accumulation of lipid in the Golgi area, or of the protrusion of lutein cells into spaces between the endothelial cells, as suggested by other authors, were noted in these preparations. Some of the difficulties inherent in the visualization of the secretory activity of cells producing steroid hormones are briefly discussed.


Author(s):  
Robert Giaquinta ◽  
M. A. Hayat

The ultrastructural changes that occur in the intestinal absorptive cells during amphibian metamorphosis have been reported (Bonneville, 1963). These changes accompany a change in diet (from an herbivorous to a carnivorous state) during metamorphosis. Little information is available, however, on the ultrastructural changes in the absorptive cells of amphibians in relation to the state of feeding. This report describes the differences in the fine structure of these cells in the tadpole stage of Rana pipiens during periods of food absorption and fasting.Rana pipiens at tadpole stages were fed an herbivorous diet, and after a period of 48 hr, the animal was dissected and segments of the small intestine were collected for electron microscopy. A second group of tadpoles was fasted for 7 days, and segments of the small intestine were collected. The tissue specimens were immersed in phosphate-buffered glutaraldehyde (3%) for 1 hr at 4C and postfixed with phosphate-buffered osmium tetroxide (2%) for 1 hr at 4C.


Author(s):  
Gonpachiro Yasuzumi ◽  
Toshikatsu Asai

Receptor-specific proteins are now being widely and usefully applied to the study of cell-surface topography. We have been actively interested in this field from the standpoint of spermiogenesis of the grasshopper. The surface of developing spermatids is in contact with other cells or with their environment, and in addition to carrying on metabolic processes necessary for maturation they must also exhibit the specificity that distinguishes cells from the same cell types from different individuales. The cell bodies of the grasshopper, Acrida lata Motschulsky, spermatids are spherical in the early stage of metamorphosis, but later they become conical and more and more elongate until they are long slender rods, rounded at the base and tapering at the tip to a sharp point. Concurrently with these changes in the spermatid cell bodies, the remarkable trans formation occurs in the fine structure of the cell-surface. In the early stage of maturation of spermatids, the cell-surface is smooth and consists of the unit membrane structure.


Author(s):  
B. Ch. Behboodi

IntroductionBorder bodies or lomasomes are the aggregation of membranes and vesicles located between the plasma membrane and the cell wall of many fungi, algae, and higher plants. Despite extensive investigation, the biogenesis as well as function of these structures is not yet known. The purpose of this investigation was to describe the biogenesis of lomasomes in Armillaria mellea and to provide some observations on their function related to cell wall formation.Materials and MethodsVarious thalli of fungi as non-aggregated hyphae, pseudosclerotes, rhizomorphs and carpophores were grown either on orange or synthetic media as described previously. The thalli were fixed in 4% glutaraldehyde buffered with 0.1 M sodium cacodylate (pH 7.4), and 0.15 M sucrose for 4 h at 4°. They were postfixed with 1% osmium tetroxide in the same buffer for 2 h at 4° and embedded in Epon according to the Luft procedure. Cytochemical studies using thiocarbohydrazide-silver proteinate were performed according the Thiéry.


Author(s):  
Kuen-Shan Hung ◽  
M. Sue Hertweck ◽  
John D. Hardy ◽  
Clayton G. Loosli

A small number of fibroblasts (alveolar septal cells, pulmonary interstitial cells, mesenchymal cells) are present in the alveolar areas of the adult lungs. These cells, like fibroblasts elsewhere, may be important in production and maintenance of connective tissue fibers found throughout the lung. Very little attention has been given to these cells in studies of the lungs. Therefore their precise structure and function are not clear. This report demonstrates filaments in the fibroblasts in the alveolar ducts and alveolar walls of the mouse lungs.The lungs were inflated with 2% glutaraldehyde, post-fixed with 1% osmium tetroxide and processed for electron microscopy. The cell body and processes of the alveolar fibroblast are located in the interalveolar septum (Fig. I).


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document