Ultrastructural changes in the midgut epithelium of an elaterid larva (Coleoptera) infected enterically with Pseudomonas aeruginosa

1973 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 811-821 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Y. Zacharuk

Soil bacteria enter the digestive tract of wireworms at ecdysis through the dorsal exuvial split and ecdysial space. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a potential pathogen of insects, multiplies in the enteron, but many are killed within it. The mucopeptide layer of the bacterial cell wall is affected early in the degenerative process.A surface epithelial mucoid layer provides a temporary protective barrier for the midgut epithelium against the bacteria. The bacteria affect the fine structure of the host midgut epithelium in three primary ways. (1) The cells take up and retain fluids in the cytoplasm and membrane-bound vacuoles to the point of apical rupture; the selective permeability of the membranes of the cell and vacuoles appears to be affected. (2) The surface mucoid covering is degraded, the exposed plasma membrane is disrupted, and a lytic erosion of the exposed cytoplasm occurs opposite bacterial colonies. Lesions thus form in the midgut epithelium, and could lead to perforation of the wall at these points. (3) Pathological changes occur in various cell organelles, the most striking of which are an increase in abundance of rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) and cytoplasmic ribosomes, and a transposition of membrane material from mitochondria and Golgi complexes to RER. The functional implications of these pathological changes in fine structure are discussed.

Author(s):  
R. P. Becker ◽  
J. J. Wolosewick ◽  
J. Ross-Stanton

Methodology has been introduced recently which allows transmission and scanning electron microscopy of cell fine structure in semi-thin sections unencumbered by an embedding medium. Images obtained from these “resinless” sections show a three-dimensional lattice of microtrabeculfee contiguous with cytoskeletal structures and membrane-bounded cell organelles. Visualization of these structures, especially of the matiiDra-nous components, can be facilitated by employing tannic acid in the fixation step and dessicator drying, as reported here.Albino rats were fixed by vascular perfusion with 2% glutaraldehyde or 1.5% depolymerized paraformaldehyde plus 2.5% glutaraldehyde in 0.1M sodium cacodylate (pH 7.4). Tissues were removed and minced in the fixative and stored overnight in fixative containing 4% tannic acid. The tissues were rinsed in buffer (0.2M cacodylate), exposed to 1% buffered osmium tetroxide, dehydrated in ethyl alcohol, and embedded in pure polyethylene glycol-6000 (PEG). Sections were cut on glass knives with a Sorvall MT-1 microtome and mounted onto poly-L-lysine, formvar-carbon coated grids while submerged in a solution of 95% ethanol containing 5% PEG.


Author(s):  
Arya K. Bal

In the course of studies in the root meristem tissue of Rubus chamaemorus L. some important changes in the ultrastructural morphology were observed during the initiation of senescence at the end of the growing season.Root meristems were collected from naturally growing healthy populations of Cloudberry plants, and fixed in Karnovsky's mixture or in 2.5% glutaraldehyde in phosphate buffer. The samples were osmicated, dehydrated following usual methods and embedded in Epon. Ultrathin sections were stained in uranyl acetate and lead citrate.Figure 1 shows part of a dense cell in the meristem. The electron density of these cells is due to large amounts of a particulate material in the cytoplasmic matrix. The smallest particle seen in electron micrographs is about 40 A, although larger aggregates are also found, which remain randomly distributed in association with various cell organelles. Dense substance has been found associated with golgi membranes, proplastids, vacuoles and microtubules (Fig. 2).


2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 627-646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irena Giełwanowska ◽  
Marta Pastorczyk ◽  
Maja Lisowska ◽  
Michał Węgrzyn ◽  
Ryszard J. Górecki

AbstractThis study investigated leaf mesophyll cells of Caryophyllaceae plants growing in polar regions – Cerastium alpinum and Silene involucrata from the Hornsund region of Spitsbergen island (Svalbard Archipelago, Arctic), and Colobanthus quitensis from the Admiralty Bay region on King George Island (South Shetland Islands, West Antarctic). Ultrastructural changes were analyzed in mesophyll protoplasts of plants growing in natural Arctic and Antarctic habitats and plants grown in a greenhouse, including plants exposed to short-term cold stress under semi-controlled conditions. Cell organelles of plants growing in natural polar habitats and greenhouse-grown plants were characterized by significant morphological plasticity. Chloroplasts of plants studied in this work formed variously shaped protrusions and invaginations that visibly increased the contact area between adjacent cell compartments and reduced the distance between organelles. S. involucrata plants grown under greenhouse conditions, tested by us in this work, were characterized by highly dynamic cell nuclei with single or multiple invaginations of the nuclear membrane and the presence of channels and cisternae filled with cytoplasm and organelles. Crystalline inclusion proteins were observed in the cell nuclei of C. quitensis between nuclear membranes and in the direct proximity of heterochromatin. Our study revealed significant conformational dynamics of organelles, manifested by variations in the optical density of matrices, membranes and envelopes, in particular in C. quitensis, which could suggest that the analyzed Caryophyllaceae taxa are well adapted to severe climate and changing conditions in polar regions.


1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (S2) ◽  
pp. 1064-1065
Author(s):  
J. T. Ellzey ◽  
J. P. Drake ◽  
L. Dader ◽  
P. Boentges

Pathological changes of hepatocytes from rats fed a 30% ethanol-derived calories diet for three weeks include noticeable ultrastructural changes including steatosis and hypertrophy of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum. We sought to examine hepatocytes of deer mice administered ethanol in an inhalation chamber for two weeks to determine if subtle changes occur in hepatocyte organelles prior to steatosis.Two strains of Peromyscus maniculatus, ADH-positive possessing hepatic cytosolic alcohol dehydrogenase and ADH-negative deer mice lacking this enzyme were purchased from the Peromyscus Genetic Stock Center (Univ. of South Carolina). They tested negatively for Hanta viruses. A morphometric analysis of the ultrastructure of ADH+(n=14) and ADH- (n=14) controls as well as experimentals exposed to chronic, intoxicating levels of ethanol was conducted. Blood ethanol levels were maintained between 1.25-1.75 mg/ml for two weeks in the experimentals.


1996 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. 780-787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald G. Ruch ◽  
Kiki Nurtjahja

The basidiospore wall of Agrocybe acericola is composed of two distinct layers that are continuous around the spores. At the germ pore, the outer wall is very thin and the inner wall becomes thicker. The plasma membrane is appressed to the inner wall and lacks distinct invaginations. The protoplasm is densely packed with ribosomes. Spores contain very little lipid distributed at each end. Mitochondria are well defined and distributed throughout the cytoplasm. Spores are binucleate, with the two nuclei lying on a line nearly perpendicular to the long axis of the cell. Various sizes of single membrane-bound vacuoles are widely distributed in the cytoplasm. These vacuoles were shown to contain acid phosphatase, indicating lysosomal activity. Microbody-like organelles are observed, which are probably glyoxysomes, since assays of malate synthase, a marker enzyme of the glyoxylate cycle, are positive. Keywords: Agrocybe, spore wall ultrastructure, basidiospore ultrastructure, glyoxylate cycle, malate synthase, acid phosphatase.


2011 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Gellen-Dautremer ◽  
F. Bert ◽  
X. Panhard ◽  
B. Fantin ◽  
A. Lefort

Parasitology ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 625-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen M. Lyons

The fine structure of two kinds of compound presumed sense organs from the heads of three skin parasitic monogeneans Gyrodactylus sp. Entobdella soleae (larva only) and Acanthocotyle elegans is described. One kind of compound receptor consists of a number of associated sensilla, each ending in a single cilium (the spike sensilla of Gyrodactylus and the cone sensilla of E. soleae oncomiracidium).The other kind of compound organ is made up of one or a few neurones only, each of which bears many cilia (pit organs of E. soleae oncomiracidium and feeding organ sensilla of Acanthocotyle elegans). The spike sensilla of Gyrodactylus have also been studied using a Cambridge Instrument Co. Stereoscan electron microscope and by phase-contrast microscopy. The ciliary endings of all these sense organs are highly modified and have lost the 9 + 2 structure, being packed with many fibres. The fibre arrangement in the cilia of the cone sensillae of E. soleae oncomiracidium and the feeding organ sensilla of A. elegans has been compared with that in the ciliary endings of other invertebrate mechano- and chemoreceptors. The possibility that the spike sensilla of Gyrodactylus may be chemoreceptors has been discussed but it is considered premature to attempt to assign functions to the other sense organs studied. Electron dense membrane-bound inclusions occurring specifically in the nerves supplying the spike sensilla of Gyrodactylus may be neurosecretory.


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