Ultrastructural Observations on Microspore Development in Rice Anther Culture

Author(s):  
S. S. Ren ◽  
J. C. Chen ◽  
Y. R. Chen

The plants produced from rice anther culture varied in ploidy level. Genetic analysis of anther-derived plants indicated genome multiplication occurred in microspore development in vitro. Cytological studies on early roicrospore division suggested endoreduplication and nuclear fusion may be related to the production of nonhaploid plants. In the present study, fine structures of callus ontogeny in anther culture were emphasized.Anthers of rice(Oryza sativa L. c. v. Hsinchu 4, 2n=24) containing mid-uninucleate microspores were excised and cultured in Ng liquid medium, supplimented with 60 g/l sucrose, 1 mg/l kinetin and 2 mg/l naphthalenacetic acid. Cultured anthers were collected at 2 days intervals for 20 days and fixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde in 0.1M cacodylate buffer(pH=7.0), postfixed in osmium tetraoxide, and then embedded in Spurr's resin. Thin sections were stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate, observed under Hitachi H-600 at 75 KV.

Author(s):  
J.F. David-Ferreira ◽  
K.L. David-Ferreira ◽  
M.H. Miranda ◽  
J.C. Lemos

The testis interstitial cells of the rat are closely associated forming small aggregates in the vicinity of the vessels. The finality of the present study is to analise the relationship between the interstitial cells and to describe some particularities of their junctions.The observations were made in thin sections from testis of 2 to 3 months old rats fixed by immersion or perfusion with 2 to 3% glutaral- dehyde in s-collidine or cacodylate buffer followed by 2% osmium tetro-xyde in the same buffers. Some specimens have been prepared following the technique of Shea. The thin sections obtained after embedding in Epon were double stained in uranyl acetate and lead citrate. For the cryofracture study the tissues were fixed in 3% glutaraldehyde in cacodylate buffer, impregnated in 28% glycerol, frozen in Freon 22 and stored in liquid nitrogen. Freeze fracture and platinum-carbon shadowing were done in a Balzers 300.


Author(s):  
Leo J. Henz ◽  
Frank E. Johnson

Hormones are found in exocrine secretions entering the gut. They alter the morphology of many eukaryotic cells; whether they affect the morphology of enteric flora is unknown. In this study, we examined the ultrastructure of E. coli, a common bacterium in the mammalian gut, for morphological changes resulting from exposure to GI hormones.E. coli (#11775 from American Type Culture Collection) were grown in protease-free trypticase soy broth (TSB) at 37°C for 18 hr to a concentration of 2 x 107 cells/ml. Pure synthetic hormones were used: sulfated C-terminal cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK), pentagastrin (PG), cyclic somatostatin tetradecapeptide (SS), or the porcine form of secretin (SEC). These were individually added to. bacterial cultures in TSB to make 1 x 107 organisms/ml and 0.0, 0.5, 2.5, or 5.0 μg of hormone/ml, then incubated for 30 min at 37°C. The cultures were rapidly chilled and added to equal volumes of cold 6% glutaraldehyde in 0.2 M cacodylate buffer. After 30 min, the bacteria were concentrated by centrifugation (15 min at 4000 RPM) and the pellets suspended in cold 3% glutaraldehyde for an additional 15 min, followed by centrifugation. The pellets were resuspended in cold cacodylate buffer and stored at 2°C for 1-7 d. The cells were again centrifuged and the pellets were blotted with a strip of filter paper to remove excess fluid, then mixed with a drop of warm 2% agar. The agar suspensions were pipetted into cold saline. The resulting solidified extrusions were cut by hand into 2 mm segments for further processing in 1% OsO4 (with or without en bloc staining in 2% uranyl acetate (UA) in ethanol). Following dehydration in ethanol, rinsing in propylene oxide, and encapsulation in Epon-Araldite, thin sections were examined and photographed with a JEOL-100C microscope.


Author(s):  
Edward W. Millhouse

Three years ago an initial report from our laboratory demonstrated the morphological changes observed in whole larval salamander (Taricha torosa) hearts maintained in culture for six months. Since then we have examined whole hearts that have been cultured from one to four months. During the culture period all hearts continued and maintained a particular beat with fluctuations in pulsation rates indicating a 24-hour periodicity.This report will deal with the ultrastructure observations of control hearts and one, two, three, and six month cultured hearts. All tissues were fixed initially from 4 to 6 hours at 4°C in 4%, redistilled glutaraldehyde buffered with cacodylate to a pH 7.4. Then the atrium was dissected free and the ventricle cut in half and, using fresh fixative, the fixation was continued for 10 hours. The tissues were washed in cacodylate buffer and stored in the cacodylate buffer containing 7% sucrose for 12 to 24 hours. These tissues were washed in buffer and post-fixed in 2% OsO4 buffered with cacodylate to pH 7.4 for two hours at 4°C. Then the tissues were dehydrated in graded ethanols, embedded in Epon 812, and sectioned on a Porter-Blum ultramicrotome. Sections were stained for 30 minutes in saturated aqueous uranyl acetate and for 15 minutes in lead citrate and viewed in an RCA EMU-3H.


Author(s):  
A. Julio Martinez ◽  
Richard J. Duma ◽  
Doris G. Fultz ◽  
Ruth B. Finley

Ultrastructural components of trophozoites and cysts of Acanthamoeba-Hartmannella (A-H) and Naegleria amebas have been investigated. The present report describes a technique to study the morphological features of such protozoa.The A-H strains selected were cultured for 7 days in axenic amebic media, and the Naegleria strains were cultured for 7 days in axenic media with blood. In situ fixation was accomplished by adding an equal volume of 4% Osmic Acid in Cacodylate buffer at 4¶C for one hour. Following frequent agitation, the tubes were then spun at 2500 RPM for 10 minutes to obtain a pellet. The pellets were dehydrated in graded series of alcohols (from 50% to absolute) and propylene oxide and then embedded in EPON. One micron sections were stained with Paragon (PS 1301) for thirty seconds. Thin sections were cut with a diamond knife, double stained with 5% alcoholic uranyl acetate solution and lead citrate and observed in an Hitachi-HS-8F2 electron microscope.


Author(s):  
T. Shirahama ◽  
A. S. Cohen ◽  
O. G. Rodgers

Forty-micron nonfrozen sections of myocardium from several healthy young adult New Zealand white rabbits, without pretreatment or 10-15 minutes after an intravenous ferritin injection (100 mg ferritin/100 gm. body weight), were double fixed with 2% formaldehyde - 2.5% glutaraldehyde in 0.1M cacodylate buffer and 2% OSO4 in 0.1M cacodylate buffer in the presence of 1000, 100, 50 or 20 ppm ruthenium red (RR), and embedded in Epon. Thin sections of small blood vessels including capillaries, unstained or stained with uranyl acetate and/or lead citrate, were photographed at initial magnifications of 40,000 or 80,000. The results were analysed to delineate the ultrastructural relation of mucopolysaccharides (MPS) in the architecture of pinocytic vesicles and the MPS role in pinocytosis.


Author(s):  
C. N. Sun ◽  
C. Araoz ◽  
H. J. White

The ultrastructure of a cerebral primitive neuroectodermal tumor has been reported previously. In the present case, we will present some unusual previously unreported membranous structures and alterations in the cytoplasm and nucleus of the tumor cells.Specimens were cut into small pieces about 1 mm3 and immediately fixed in 4% glutaraldehyde in phosphate buffer for two hours, then post-fixed in 1% buffered osmium tetroxide for one hour. After dehydration, tissues were embedded in Epon 812. Thin sections were stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate.In the cytoplasm of the tumor cells, we found paired cisternae (Fig. 1) and annulate lamellae (Fig. 2) noting that the annulate lamellae were sometimes associated with the outer nuclear envelope (Fig. 3). These membranous structures have been reported in other tumor cells. In our case, mitochondrial to nuclear envelope fusions were often noted (Fig. 4). Although this phenomenon was reported in an oncocytoma, their frequency in the present study is quite striking.


Author(s):  
M. Kessel ◽  
R. MacColl

The major protein of the blue-green algae is the biliprotein, C-phycocyanin (Amax = 620 nm), which is presumed to exist in the cell in the form of distinct aggregates called phycobilisomes. The self-assembly of C-phycocyanin from monomer to hexamer has been extensively studied, but the proposed next step in the assembly of a phycobilisome, the formation of 19s subunits, is completely unknown. We have used electron microscopy and analytical ultracentrifugation in combination with a method for rapid and gentle extraction of phycocyanin to study its subunit structure and assembly.To establish the existence of phycobilisomes, cells of P. boryanum in the log phase of growth, growing at a light intensity of 200 foot candles, were fixed in 2% glutaraldehyde in 0.1M cacodylate buffer, pH 7.0, for 3 hours at 4°C. The cells were post-fixed in 1% OsO4 in the same buffer overnight. Material was stained for 1 hour in uranyl acetate (1%), dehydrated and embedded in araldite and examined in thin sections.


Author(s):  
E. B. Masurovsky ◽  
H. H. Benitez ◽  
M. R. Murray

Recent light- and electron microscope studies concerned with the effects of D2O on the development of chick sympathetic ganglia in long-term, organized culture revealed the presence of rod-like fibrillar formations, and associated granulofibrillar bodies, in the nuclei of control and deuterated neurons. Similar fibrillar formations have been reported in the nuclei of certain mammalian CNS neurons; however, related granulofibrillar bodies have not been previously described. Both kinds of intranuclear structures are observed in cultures fixed either in veronal acetate-buffered 2%OsO4 (pH 7. 4), or in 3.5% glutaraldehyde followed by post-osmication. Thin sections from such Epon-embedded cultures were stained with ethanolic uranyl acetate and basic lead citrate for viewing in the electron microscope.


Author(s):  
Roberta M. Bruck

An unusual structure in the cochlea is the spiral limbus; this periosteal tissue consists of stellate fibroblasts and collagenous fibers embedded in a translucent ground substance. The collagenous fibers are arranged in vertical columns (the auditory teeth of Haschke). Between the auditory teeth are interdental furrows in which the interdental cells are situated. These epithelial cells supposedly secrete the tectorial membrane.The fine structure of interdental cells in the rat was reported by Iurato (1962). Since the mouse appears to be different, a description of the fine structure of mouse interdental cells' is presented. Young adult C57BL/6J mice were perfused intervascularly with 1% paraformaldehyde/ 1.25% glutaraldehyde in .1M phosphate buffer (pH7.2-7.4). Intact cochlea were decalcified in .1M EDTA by the method of Baird (1967), postosmicated, dehydrated, and embedded in Araldite. Thin sections stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate were examined in a Phillips EM-200 electron microscope.


Author(s):  
Patricia L. Jansma

The presence of the membrane bound vesicles or blebs on the intestinal epithelial cells has been demonstrated in a variety of vertebrates such as chicks, piglets, hamsters, and humans. The only invertebrates shown to have these microvillar blebs are two species of f1ies. While investigating the digestive processes of the freshwater microcrustacean, Daphnia magna, the presence of these microvillar blebs was noticed.Daphnia magna fed in a suspension of axenically grown green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardii for one hour were narcotized with CO2 saturated water. The intestinal tracts were excised in 2% glutaraldehyde in 0.2 M cacodyl ate buffer and then placed in fresh 2% glutaraldehyde for one hour. After rinsing in 0.1 M cacodylate buffer, the sample was postfixed in 2% OsO4, dehydrated with a graded ethanol series, infiltrated and embedded with Epon-Araldite. Thin sections were stained with uranyl acetate and Reynolds lead citrate before viewing with the Philips EM 200.


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