The fine structure of the body wall of Polymorphus minutus (Goeze, 1782) (Acanthocephala)

Parasitology ◽  
1965 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 357-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. T. Crompton ◽  
D. L. Lee

The body wall of Polymorphus minutus has been studied with the electron microscope and the structure of the various layers has been described.The layers are the same in number as those seen with the light microscope, and pores have been found which penetrate the cuticle. Thus, the structure of the surface layers is such as would facilitate the absorption of nutrients.It has been found that the cuticle and striped layer extend over the trunk spines, a feature which increases the area of the absorptive surface of the parasite.The structure of the striped layer of the praesoma supports the theory that the praesoma body wall and lemnisci are involved in the absorption of fat.Mitochondria have been detected in the felt and radial layers of the body wall and in the circular and longitudinal muscles.The body wall of this acanthocephalan worm is entirely different from the body wall of trematodes, cestodes and parasitic nematodes.We are grateful to Dr P. Tate for helpful discussions, Dr R. J. Skaer for criticism of the manuscript and to Professor J. D. Boyd for permission to use the electron microscope in the Department of Anatomy. Thanks are also due to Mr A. J. Page for technical assistance.

Parasitology ◽  
1967 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 475-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Hammond

The wall of the trunk, that of the praesoma, and the lemnisci of Acanthocephalus ranae have been studied by electron microscopy. Striations visible in sections of the body wall under the light microscope do not correspond with the ‘striped layer’ revealed by the electron microscope.A new region, the ‘canal layer’, has been described. This contains canals running into the body wall from cuticular pores.Structurally the wall of the trunk and that of the praesoma are similar. The lemnisci resemble the ‘inner layer’ of the praesoma wall. However, it is suggested that the wall of the trunk differs physiologically from that of the praesoma, and from the lemnisci. The possible roles of the wall of the praesoma and the lemnisci in fat excretion or uptake have been discussed.The body wall of A. ranae has been compared with that of the other acantho-cephalans studied with the electron microscope.Grateful acknowledgement is made to D.S.I.R. (now S.R.C.) for a research grant to the Department of Zoology for the purchase of a Huxley ultramicrotome, a vacuum coating unit, and an AEI EM 6 electron microscope.I am grateful to Dr D. A. Erasmus for reading and criticizing the manuscript, and to Mr T. Davies for valuable technical assistance.


Parasitology ◽  
1965 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. Lee

The cuticle of adults ofNippostrongylus brasiliensishas been described using histological, histochemical and ultrastructural techniques.The cuticle has the following layers: an outer triple-layered membrane; a single cortical layer; a fluid-filled layer which is traversed by numerous collagen fibrils; struts which support the fourteen longitudinal ridges of the cuticle and which are suspended by collagen fibrils in the fluid-filled layer; two fibre layers, each layer apparently containing three layers of fibres; and a basement lamella.The fluid-filled layer contains haemoglobin and esterase.The muscles of the body wall are attached to either the basement lamella or to the fibre layers of the cuticle.The mitochondria of the hypodermis are of normal appearance.The longitudinal ridges of the cuticle appear to abrade the microvilli of the intestinal cells of the host.Possible functions of the cuticle are discussed.I wish to thank Dr P. Tate, in whose department this work was done, for helpful suggestions and criticism at all stages of this work, and Mr A. Page for technical assistance. I also wish to thank Professor Boyd for permission to use the electron microscope in the Department of Anatomy.


1972 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 457-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Byers ◽  
R. V. Anderson

The fine structure of the body wall, stoma, and stomatostyle of the plant parasitic nematode, Tylenchorhynchus dubius, is described. The body wall consists of a six-layered cuticle, about 1 μ thick, and a thin interchordal hypodermis. Some details of the labial framework and the cuticular lining of the stoma are described. The shaft of the stomatostyle is composed of five distinct layers. The attachment between the shaft and the stomatal cuticle is characterized by several specializations. One of these is an extensive attachment complex formed at the lateral junction between the stomatal and stylet epithelia. The protractor musculature consists of three main units which are each subdivided anteriorly into smaller elements. Also present are four secondary muscle elements which extend posteriorly beyond the base of the stylet and attach to the cuticular lining of the esophagus above the dorsal duct orifice.The ultrastructural morphology described for T. dubius is compared with that known for other plant parasitic nematodes. Some likely relationships between structure and function are also discussed.


Parasitology ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 399-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Wilson

SUMMARYThe fine structure and organization of the nervous system of the miracidium is described. The central ganglion consists of a mass of nerve fibres with peripherally situated cell bodies. Tracts of fibres run outward from the central mass to the muscles of the body wall and to specialized endings. The individual fibres contain several types of inclusions and synapses are common in the neuropile.Excluding the eyespots, four kinds of specialized nerve endings are described. Two of these types terminate at the body surface and bear ‘cilia’. The other two terminate internally, one type within the body wall and the other type laterally, slightly anterior to the central ganglion. It is suggested that the function of three of the types of ending might be sensory, detecting chemical and mechanical stimuli, and the direction of gravity. The function of the fourth type of ending is problematical but might be secretory.I am most grateful to Dr A. Robards for use of electron microscope facilities and to Mrs J. Denison for technical assistance.


1958 ◽  
Vol s3-99 (46) ◽  
pp. 279-284
Author(s):  
J.T. Y. CHOU ◽  
G. A. MEEK

The three kinds of lipid globules recognizable in the living neurones of Helix aspersa have been examined under the electron microscope. The globules of the kind that can be stained blue with methylene blue during life are seen in electron micrographs as spheres or spheroids, with concentric lamination, after calcium-osmium fixation. After fixation with sucrose-osmium laminated crescentic bodies are seen instead; these appear to be formed by distortion of the ‘blue’ globules. The yellow globules contain electrondense material, and sometimes appear reticular. It is possible that the yellow globules may originate by transformation of some of the ‘blue’ globules. The colourless globules generally appear as crenated objects; this appearance may be a shrinkage artifact. Apart from the mitochondria and the three kinds of lipid globules described, no other object large enough to be identified with the light microscope has been seen in the cytoplasm.


1954 ◽  
Vol s3-95 (30) ◽  
pp. 251-270
Author(s):  
G. P. WELLS

The mechanism of proboscis movement is analysed in detail in Arenicola marina L. and A. ecaudata Johnston, and discussed in relation to the properties of the hydrostatic skeleton. Proboscis activity is based on the following cycle of movements in both species. Stage I. The circular muscles of the body-wall and buccal mass contract; the head narrows and lengthens. Stage IIa. The circular muscles of the mouth and buccal mass relax; the gular membrane (or ‘first diaphragm’ of previous authors) contracts; the mouth opens and the buccal mass emerges. Stage IIb. The longitudinal muscles of the buccal mass and body-wall contract; the head shortens and widens and the pharynx emerges. Stage III. As Stage I. The two species differ anatomically and in their hydrostatic relationships. In ecaudata, the forward movement of body-fluid which extrudes and distends the proboscis is largely due to the contraction of the gular membrane and septal pouches. In marina, the essential mechanism is the relaxation of the oral region which allows the general coelomic pressure to extrude the proboscis. The gular membrane of marina contracts as that of ecaudata does, but its anatomy is different and it appears to be a degenerating structure as far as proboscis extrusion is concerned. Withdrawal of the proboscis may occur while the head is still shortening and widening in Stage IIb, or while it is lengthening and narrowing in Stage III. The proboscis is used both in feeding and in burrowing; in the latter case nothing enters through the mouth; the difference is largely caused by variation in the timing of withdrawal relative to the 3-stage cycle.


1925 ◽  
Vol s2-69 (274) ◽  
pp. 245-290
Author(s):  
A. J. GROVE

During the sexual congress of L.terrestris, the co-operating worms become attached to one another in a head-to-tail position in such a way that segments 9-11 of one are opposed to the clitellum of the other, and vice versa. At these points the attachment between the worms is an intimate one, assisted by the secretion of the glands associated with the diverticula of the setal pores found in certain segments, and is reinforced by the mutual penetration of the setae into the opposed body-surfaces. There is also a slighter attachment between segment 26 of one and 15 of the other. Each worm is enclosed in a slime-tube composed of mucus secreted from the epidermis. The exchange of seminal fluid is a mutual one. The fluid issues from the apertures of the vasa deferentia in segment 15, and is conducted beneath the slime-tube in pit-like depressions in the seminal grooves, which extend from segment 15 to the clitellum on each side of the body, to the clitellum, where it accumulates in the space between the lateral surfaces of segments 9-11 of one worm and the clitellum of the other. Eventually it becomes aggregated into masses in the groove between segments 9 and 10, and 10 and 11, and passes thence into the spermathecae. The seminal groove and its pit-like depressions are brought into existence by special muscles lying in the lateral blocks of longitudinal muscles of the body-wall.


Parasitology ◽  
1971 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Whitfield

The mature egg and the acanthor of Moniliformis dubius have been redescribed with special emphasis on the features relevant to the locomotion of this larval acanthocephalan. The movements of acanthors have been analysed by the use of frame by frame study of filmed records of motile acanthors. Acanthors appear to use the same mode of locomotion for hatching, locomotion within the gut of the intermediate host and penetration of the host's gut wall. Movement is produced by a set of spiralled, longitudinal muscles in the body wall of the hind body and two rostellar retractor muscles. This musculature acts both directly on the body wall and indirectly by hydraulic effects via the hydrostatic skeleton of pseudocoelomic fluid. The spiny evertable rostellum and the backward facing spines of the hind body are the means whereby shape changes of the acanthor interact with the immediate environment to produce effective progression.I should like to thank Professor D. Arthur for the provision of laboratory facilities, Dr D. W. T. Crompton for the initial gift of eggs of M. dubius and Mr R. D. Reed for invaluable assistance with microcinematographic technique. The work was carried out during the tenure of a Nuffield Foundation Research Fellowship.


Parasitology ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 112 (5) ◽  
pp. 459-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Schmidt ◽  
O. Bodor ◽  
L. Gohr ◽  
W. Kunz

SUMMARYParamyosin, although a widely distributed muscle component among invertebrates, has hitherto not clearly been shown to occur in the muscles of schistosomes. Instead, it has been reported to occur in the tegument. In the present study, a specific antibody reacting with each of 10 isoforms of paramyosin was used for light microscopical immunolocalization in sections of Schistosoma mansoni. Specimens were fixed by a new method to immobilize antigens with uranyl acetate–trehalose–methanol. In cercariae, schistosomula, and adults, the circular and longitudinal muscles of the body wall, the dorsoventral muscles and those surrounding the gut and the pharynx as well as the fast moving cross-striated muscles of the tail of cercariae intensely reacted with the antibody. However, neither immunohistologically nor on Western blots of isolated tegument, were indications found for the presence of paramyosin in the tegument. In vivo phosphorylation and binding of anti-phospho-tyrosine and anti-phospho-serine antibodies show phosphorylation of paramyosin which probably is responsible for the generation of the isoforms.


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