An unusual blastocyst stage of the marsupial Isoodon macrourus

1977 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 225 ◽  
Author(s):  
AG Lyne ◽  
DE Hollis

Four blastocysts, identical in size (diameter 1.1 mm) and appearance, were obtained from one uterus of a short-nosed bandicoot I. macrourus and examined by light and electron microscopy. These blastocysts were unusual in that each one had a conspicuous region of protoderm about 0.3-0.5 mm in width and mostly more than one cell thick. The remainder of the protoderm was thin and unilaminar. Cell divisions were more numerous in the thickened region than in the remainder of the protoderm. Some entire cells and blebs of cytoplasm had been shed or were being shed from the thickened region into the blastocoele. The egg membranes were similzr to those of bilaminar blastocysts, the shell membranes being intact and about 1.0 um thick, and the mucoid coat and zona pellucida being discontinuous.

1976 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 361 ◽  
Author(s):  
AG Lyne ◽  
DE Hollis

Twelve embryos, ranging from a four-celled stage to late unilaminar blastocysts, were obtained from the bandicoots I. macrourus and P. nasuta and examined by light and electron microscopy. These early stages covered at least one-quarter of the 12.5-day gestation period. The three non-cellular egg membranes characteristic of marsupials (zona pellucida, mucoid coat and shell membrane) were present, although the zona was sometimes absent or discontinuous in the intermediate and late unilaminar blastocysts examined. At the four-celled stage the blastomeres were close to the zona, but they had lost contact with each other, probably due to the extrusion of yolk, a phenomenon which has been described in other marsupials. The embryo did not increase in diameter until it was composed of at least 75 contiguous cells, which were in contact with the zona. In several of the larger blastocysts the protoderm cells had lost contact with the zona. Subsequently, the number of cells increased considerably and they were flattened against the egg membranes to form the late unilaminar blastocyst stage. Electron microscopy of the protoderm cells revealed the presence of numerous microvilli, particularly on the outer surface, and a range of other structures as great as those found in eutherian mammals. Remnants of spindle bridges were common in one 75-celled embryo. The yolk material in the blastocoele was also composed of a variety of structures, including small crystalloid inclusions composed of hexagonal units about 8-10 nm in diameter. Similar crystalloids have been described in the cells of early mouse and rabbit embryos and in egg and embryonic cells of various amphibians.


1977 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 207 ◽  
Author(s):  
DE Hollis ◽  
AG Lyne

Eleven embryos, ranging from partly to fully bilaminar blastocysts, were obtained from the bandicoots I. macrourus and P. nasuta and were examined by light and electron microscopy. The morphological changes which occurred during the differentiation of the endoderm and ectoderm are described. The shell membrane was thinner than it was in unilaminar blastocysts and had a deposit of material of irregular thickness on its outer surface. The mucoid coat and zona pellucida were absent or discontinuous. Endoderm formation was first observed in blastocysts about 1.0 mm in diameter. Cells migrated inwards from regions of thickened protoderm to form a continuous layer of similar flattened cells - the endoderm - beneath the protoderm, which then became the ectoderm. The blastocysts were fully bilaminar when they were 1.5-1.9 mm in diameter. At this stage the ectoderm was composed of two distinct regions, an embryonic region of cuboidal cells and a non-embryonic region of flattened cells resembling the cells of the endoderm. The formation of the endoderm in bandicoots closely resembles that described in other marsupials, except the American opossum Didelphis virginiana in which endoderm cells are released into the blastocoele before they form a continuous layer.


Author(s):  
Odell T. Minick ◽  
Hidejiro Yokoo ◽  
Fawzia Batti

Vacuolated cells in the liver of young rats were studied by light and electron microscopy following the administration of vitamin A (200 units per gram of body weight). Their characteristics were compared with similar cells found in untreated animals.In rats given vitamin A, cells with vacuolated cytoplasm were a prominent feature. These cells were found mostly in a perisinusoidal location, although some appeared to be in between liver cells (Fig. 1). Electron microscopy confirmed their location in Disse's space adjacent to the sinusoid and in recesses between liver cells. Some appeared to be bordering the lumen of the sinusoid, but careful observation usually revealed a tenuous endothelial process separating the vacuolated cell from the vascular space. In appropriate sections, fenestrations in the thin endothelial processes were noted (Fig. 2, arrow).


Author(s):  
John H. L. Watson ◽  
John L. Swedo ◽  
M. Vrandecic

The ambient temperature and the nature of the storage fluids may well have significant effects upon the post-implantation behavior of venus autografts. A first step in the investigation of such effects is reported here. Experimental conditions have been set which approximate actual operating room procedures. Saphenous veins from dogs have been used as models in the experiments. After removal from the dogs the veins were kept for two hours under four different experimental conditions, viz at either 4°C or 23°C in either physiological saline or whole canine arterial blood. At the end of the two hours they were prepared for light and electron microscopy. Since no obvious changes or damage could be seen in the veins by light microscopy, even with the advantage of tissue specific stains, it was essential that the control of parameters for successful grafts be set by electron microscopy.


Author(s):  
Joseph M. Harb ◽  
James T. Casper ◽  
Vlcki Piaskowski

The application of tissue culture and the newer methodologies of direct cloning and colony formation of human tumor cells in soft agar hold promise as valuable modalities for a variety of diagnostic studies, which include morphological distinction between tumor types by electron microscopy (EM). We present here two cases in which cells in culture expressed distinct morphological features not apparent in the original biopsy specimen. Evaluation of the original biopsies by light and electron microscopy indicated both neoplasms to be undifferentiated sarcomas. Colonies of cells propagated in soft agar displayed features of rhabdomyoblasts in one case, and cultured cells of the second biopsy expressed features of Ewing's sarcoma.


Author(s):  
J.C.S. Kim ◽  
M.G. Jourden ◽  
E.S. Carlisle

Chronic exposure to nitrogen dioxide in rodents has shown that injury reaches a maximum after 24 hours, and a reparative adaptive phase follows (1). Damage occurring in the terminal bronchioles and proximal portions of the alveolar ducts in rats has been extensively studied by both light and electron microscopy (1).The present study was undertaken to compare the response of lung tissue to intermittent exposure to 10 ppm of nitrogen dioxide gas for 4 hours per week, while the hamsters were on a vitamin A deficient diet. Ultrastructural observations made from lung tissues obtained from non-gas exposed, hypovitaminosis A animals and gas exposed animals fed a regular commercially prepared diet have been compared to elucidate the specific effect of vitamin A on nitrogen dioxide gas exposure. The interaction occurring between vitamin A and nitrogen dioxide gas has not previously been investigated.


Author(s):  
J. A. Pollock ◽  
M. Martone ◽  
T. Deerinck ◽  
M. H. Ellisman

Localization of specific proteins in cells by both light and electron microscopy has been facilitate by the availability of antibodies that recognize unique features of these proteins. High resolution localization studies conducted over the last 25 years have allowed biologists to study the synthesis, translocation and ultimate functional sites for many important classes of proteins. Recently, recombinant DNA techniques in molecular biology have allowed the production of specific probes for localization of nucleic acids by “in situ” hybridization. The availability of these probes potentially opens a new set of questions to experimental investigation regarding the subcellular distribution of specific DNA's and RNA's. Nucleic acids have a much lower “copy number” per cell than a typical protein, ranging from one copy to perhaps several thousand. Therefore, sensitive, high resolution techniques are required. There are several reasons why Intermediate Voltage Electron Microscopy (IVEM) and High Voltage Electron Microscopy (HVEM) are most useful for localization of nucleic acids in situ.


Author(s):  
D. E. Philpott ◽  
W. Sapp ◽  
C. Williams ◽  
Joann Stevenson ◽  
S. Black

The response of spermatogonial cells to X-irradiation is well documented. It has been shown that there is a radiation resistent stem cell (As) which, after irradiation, replenishes the seminiferous epithelium. Most investigations in this area have dealt with radiation dosages of 100R or more. This study was undertaken to observe cellular responses at doses less than 100R of X-irradiation utilizing a system in which the tissue can be used for light and electron microscopy.Brown B6D2F1 mice aged 16 weeks were exposed to X-irradiation (225KeV; 15mA; filter 0.35 Cu; 50-60 R/min). Four mice were irradiated at each dose level between 1 and 100 rads. Testes were removed 3 days post-irradiation, fixed, and embedded. Sections were cut at 2 microns for light microscopy. After staining, surviving spermatogonia were identified and counted in tubule cross sections. The surviving fraction of spermatogonia compared to control, S/S0, was plotted against dose to give the curve shown in Fig. 1.


Author(s):  
C. E. M. Bourne ◽  
L. Sicko-Goad

Much recent attention has been focused on vegetative survival forms of planktonic diatoms and other algae. There are several reports of extended vegetative survival of the freshwater diatom Melosira in lake sediments. In contrast to those diatoms which form a morphologically distinct resistant spore, Melosira is known to produce physiological resting cells that are indistinguishable in outward morphology from actively growing cells.We used both light and electron microscopy to document and elucidate the sequence of cytological changes during the transition from resting cells to actively growing cells in a population of Melosira granulata from Douglas Lake, Michigan sediments collected in mid-July of 1983.


Author(s):  
Itaru Watanabe ◽  
Dante G. Scarpelli

Acute thiamine deficiency was produced in mice by the administration of oxythiamine, a thiamine analogue, superimposed upon a thiamine deficient diet. Adult male Swiss mice (30 gm. B.W.) were fed with a thiamine deficient diet ad libitumand were injected with oxythiamine (170 mg/Kg B.W.) subcutaneously on days 4 and 10. On day 11, severe lassitude and anorexia developed, followed by death within 48 hours. The animals treated daily with subcutaneous injections of thiamine (300 μg/Kg B.W.) from day 11 through 15 were kept alive. Similarly, feeding with a diet containing thiamine (600 μg/Kg B.W./day) from day 9 through 17 reversed the condition. During this time period, no fatal illness occurred in the controls which were pair-fed with a thiamine deficient diet.The oxythiamine-treated mice showed a significant enlargement of the liver, which weighed approximately 1.5 times as much as that of the pair-fed controls. By light and electron microscopy, the hepatocytes were markedly swollen due to severe fatty change and swelling of the mitochondria.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document