The ultrastructure of the polar lobe of Crepidula fornicata (Gastropoda, Prosobranchia)

Development ◽  
1975 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 419-428
Author(s):  
M. R. Dohmen ◽  
D. Lok

Some novel structural features of the polar lobe of the egg of Crepidula are described. The significance of two kinds of aggregate is discussed in relation to the morphogenetic factors present in polar lobes generally. Surface configurations of the polar lobe are also described.

Development ◽  
1973 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-281
Author(s):  
G. Teitelman

Removal of the polar lobe at the trefoil stage of the first cleavage division of Ilyanassa embryos causes abnormalities much later in development. To determine if the developmental differences between normal and delobed embryos were reflected in alterations in protein synthesis and at what stages of development these become evident, protein solutions were separated by disc electrophoresis on basic acrylamide gels. For the analysis of the newly synthesized proteins, two protein samples, one labelled with 14C and the other with 3H, were combined in the same electrophoretic column. Each was prepared from normal embryos or lobeless embryos at different stages of development. The distribution of the two groups of differentially labelled proteins was compared by a determination, for each fraction, of the ratio of the normalized 3H/14C counts for that particular fraction (R = 3H/14C). The plot of R versus fraction number was studied for various combinations of samples. During normal development the profile of labelled proteins remains unchanged until the onset of visible differentiation. At this stage, around day 4 of development, there are changes in biosynthesis revealed by a greater emphasis on the synthesis of slow moving proteins. The profile of labelled proteins of lobeless embryos remains unchanged up to the 5th day of development. This result is correlated with the absence, in the lobeless embryos, of many of the visible differentiations. Preliminary studies revealed that the spectrum of labelled proteins of the polar lobe is identical to the one present in lobeless embryos and in normal embryos in early stages of development. This suggests the possibility that the morphogenetic factors associated with the polar lobe are not among the newly synthesized proteins. A hypothesis is presented to account for the effects on morphogenesis and protein synthesis which are produced by removal of the polar lobe.


Development ◽  
1962 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 410-422
Author(s):  
A. S. G. Curtis

Although the main visible forms of morphogenesis commence at gastrulation it is of great interest to discover whether they are preceded by a series of preparatory changes just as essential to development, although they have no immediately visible effects. When Dalcq & Pasteels (1937) proposed the hypothesis that the cortex and yolk respectively contained morphogenetic factors which determine the main structural features of the embryo, they did not suggest when or how these factors act. I have described a method (Curtis, 1960) for grafting portions of the cortex of the Xenopus egg from one egg to another, and by its use was able to confirm that parts at least of the cortex contain a morphogenetic factor. In the present work this technique has been used to make grafts between the cortex of embryonic cells of varying ages in order to discover whether the cortex alters its morphogenetic properties as development proceeds.


2006 ◽  
Vol 297 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Q. Henry ◽  
Kimberly J. Perry ◽  
Mark Q. Martindale

Development ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 237-243
Author(s):  
W. L. M. Geilenkirchen ◽  
N. H. Verdonk ◽  
L. P. M. Timmermans

During the development of several annelids and molluscs, a lobe of protoplasm is observed to protrude from the vegetal pole of the egg during the first cleavages. Removal of this polar lobe causes characteristic defects in the developing larvae as has been observed in the scaphopod, Dentalium (Wilson, 1904; Verdonk, 1968), the annelid Sabellaria (Hatt, 1932; Novikoff, 1938), the gastropod Ilyanassa obsoleta (Crampton, 1896; Clement, 1952) and the lamellibranch, Mytilus edulis (Rattenbury & Berg, 1954). In Dentalium a polar lobe is formed at the first, the second and the third cleavage. The lobes contain part of the cytoplasm, which later is confined to the D blastomere. After removal of the first polar lobe, embryos develop in which the post-trochal region and the apical tuft are absent. After removal of the second polar lobe the post-trochal region of the embryos is greatly reduced, but they develop an apical tuft (Wilson, 1904).


Development ◽  
1971 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-63
Author(s):  
N. H. Verdonk ◽  
W. L. M. Geilenkirchen ◽  
L. P. M. Timmermans

The effect of removing parts of unfertilized and fertilized eggs of Dentalium has been studied. Up to 70 % of the volume of a 1st polar lobe can be removed from the vegetal side of both unfertilized and fertilized eggs, without influencing apical tuft formation. The post-trochal region is reduced. These eggs form a reduced polar lobe at first cleavage. After removal of more than 70 % of the volume of a 1st polar lobe from the vegetal side of an uncleaved egg, before or after fertilization, no polar lobe is formed and larvae develop without apical tuft or post-trochal region. The polar lobe area is quantitatively determined in the uncleaved egg, but after fertilization of isolated vegetal fragments regulation occurs and the polar lobe becomes proportional in size to the fragment. Feulgen-positive granules, present at the vegetal side of the uncleaved egg, can be removed without influencing apical tuft formation. They may be important as determinants for the formation of the post-trochal region or adult structures.


Author(s):  
O.C. de Hodgins ◽  
K. R. Lawless ◽  
R. Anderson

Commercial polyimide films have shown to be homogeneous on a scale of 5 to 200 nm. The observation of Skybond (SKB) 705 and PI5878 was carried out by using a Philips 400, 120 KeV STEM. The objective was to elucidate the structural features of the polymeric samples. The specimens were spun and cured at stepped temperatures in an inert atmosphere and cooled slowly for eight hours. TEM micrographs showed heterogeneities (or nodular structures) generally on a scale of 100 nm for PI5878 and approximately 40 nm for SKB 705, present in large volume fractions of both specimens. See Figures 1 and 2. It is possible that the nodulus observed may be associated with surface effects and the structure of the polymers be regarded as random amorphous arrays. Diffraction patterns of the matrix and the nodular areas showed different amorphous ring patterns in both materials. The specimens were viewed in both bright and dark fields using a high resolution electron microscope which provided magnifications of 100,000X or more on the photographic plates if desired.


Author(s):  
D. F. Blake ◽  
L. F. Allard ◽  
D. R. Peacor

Echinodermata is a phylum of marine invertebrates which has been extant since Cambrian time (c.a. 500 m.y. before the present). Modern examples of echinoderms include sea urchins, sea stars, and sea lilies (crinoids). The endoskeletons of echinoderms are composed of plates or ossicles (Fig. 1) which are with few exceptions, porous, single crystals of high-magnesian calcite. Despite their single crystal nature, fracture surfaces do not exhibit the near-perfect {10.4} cleavage characteristic of inorganic calcite. This paradoxical mix of biogenic and inorganic features has prompted much recent work on echinoderm skeletal crystallography. Furthermore, fossil echinoderm hard parts comprise a volumetrically significant portion of some marine limestones sequences. The ultrastructural and microchemical characterization of modern skeletal material should lend insight into: 1). The nature of the biogenic processes involved, for example, the relationship of Mg heterogeneity to morphological and structural features in modern echinoderm material, and 2). The nature of the diagenetic changes undergone by their ancient, fossilized counterparts. In this study, high resolution TEM (HRTEM), high voltage TEM (HVTEM), and STEM microanalysis are used to characterize tha ultrastructural and microchemical composition of skeletal elements of the modern crinoid Neocrinus blakei.


Author(s):  
U. Aebi ◽  
P. Rew ◽  
T.-T. Sun

Various types of intermediate-sized (10-nm) filaments have been found and described in many different cell types during the past few years. Despite the differences in the chemical composition among the different types of filaments, they all yield common structural features: they are usually up to several microns long and have a diameter of 7 to 10 nm; there is evidence that they are made of several 2 to 3.5 nm wide protofilaments which are helically wound around each other; the secondary structure of the polypeptides constituting the filaments is rich in ∞-helix. However a detailed description of their structural organization is lacking to date.


Author(s):  
R.M. Glaeser ◽  
S.B. Hayward

Highly ordered or crystalline biological macromolecules become severely damaged and structurally disordered after a brief electron exposure. Evidence that damage and structural disorder are occurring is clearly given by the fading and eventual disappearance of the specimen's electron diffraction pattern. The fading and disappearance of sharp diffraction spots implies a corresponding disappearance of periodic structural features in the specimen. By the same token, there is a oneto- one correspondence between the disappearance of the crystalline diffraction pattern and the disappearance of reproducible structural information that can be observed in the images of identical unit cells of the object structure. The electron exposures that result in a significant decrease in the diffraction intensity will depend somewhat upon the resolution (Bragg spacing) involved, and can vary considerably with the chemical makeup and composition of the specimen material.


Author(s):  
Godfrey C. Hoskins ◽  
Betty B. Hoskins

Metaphase chromosomes from human and mouse cells in vitro are isolated by micrurgy, fixed, and placed on grids for electron microscopy. Interpretations of electron micrographs by current methods indicate the following structural features.Chromosomal spindle fibrils about 200Å thick form fascicles about 600Å thick, wrapped by dense spiraling fibrils (DSF) less than 100Å thick as they near the kinomere. Such a fascicle joins the future daughter kinomere of each metaphase chromatid with those of adjacent non-homologous chromatids to either side. Thus, four fascicles (SF, 1-4) attach to each metaphase kinomere (K). It is thought that fascicles extend from the kinomere poleward, fray out to let chromosomal fibrils act as traction fibrils against polar fibrils, then regroup to join the adjacent kinomere.


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