Mitochondrial and other ultrastructural changes in the developing Habrobracon embryo

Development ◽  
1975 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-190
Author(s):  
Robert L. Amy

Cells of the wasp, Habrobracon juglandis, were studied by electron microscopy with the view to comparing ultrastructural changes, especially those found in mitochondria, that occur during the first two-thirds of the 29 h embryonic period. In 1- to 2-h embryos (the earliest studied) mitochondria are distributed principally in the periplasm and typically are arranged in clumps with their long axes parallel to each other. Based on a study of profiles occurring in thin sections, most appear to be elongate with poorly developed cristae, have dense matrices and are longer than those of later stages. At 3–4 h of age, in incipient blastoderm cells, the mitochondria are distributed throughout the cytoplasm with 40% located lateral to the nuclei and 42 % concentrated in a subnuclear position. Most (81 %) exhibit spherical profiles, with well-developed cristae and less dense matrices than those found at earlier ages. In fully formed blastodermal cells (7–8 h), mitochondria are similar morphologically except that a lower percentage (53 %) are spherical; almost half (48 %) have migrated to a supranuclear location. In early gastrula cells (11–12 h) no significant variations from the blastoderm condition were apparent. Mitochondria in the oldest cells studied (18–19 h) show somewhat greater structural complexity and variability. The number per cell section is drastically reduced compared to earlier ages, but this, at least in part, is related to a reduction in cell size. Changes observed in other cellular constituents are also described. Comparisons are made with similar variations reported in other developing organisms and their possible significance is discussed.

Author(s):  
D.L. Friesen ◽  
A. Singh ◽  
M.E. Hitt

Thiacetarsamide is an arsenic-containing drug used in the treatment of heartworm in dogs. The effective antihelmintic dose is toxic to the host animal. Acetylcysteine decreases the hepatotoxicity of some compounds by forming a conjugate with toxic metabolites of the compound. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a cytoprotectant for hepatocytes in dogs treated with therapeutic levels of thiacetarsamide.Eighteen dogs were divided randomly into two groups. All dogs were given four doses of thiacetarsamide over two days. Nine dogs were given 10% acetylcysteine 15 min prior to each dose of thiacetarsamide. Needle biopsies of the liver were taken from each dog prior to the treatment and again one week post-treatment. The biopsies were fixed in 2% gluraraldehyde in phosphate buffer, pH 7.3, post-fixed in 1% osmium tetroxide, and processed for electron microscopy. Semithin and thin sections of the liver were examined by light and electron microscopy, respectively, for histopathologic and ultrastructural changes. The specimens were coded and the sample treatment was not known to the researchers at the time of observation.


1973 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles W. Boylen ◽  
Jack L. Pate

Actively growing spherical and rod-shaped cells of Arthrobacter crystallopoietes were subjected to total starvation in buffer for 8 weeks. At intervals, thin sections of cells were prepared and examined by electron microscopy. Starving cells underwent no morphological changes that would account for their unusual survival capabilities. Cell size and shape remained unaltered. There was no thickening of the cell wall and no development of structures similar to those observed in spores or cysts. As the length of starvation increased, the following changes were observed; glycogen deposits disappeared, the number of ribosome particles decreased, the number of vesicular membranes increased within the cell, and the nucleoplasm expanded in volume to fill the emptying cytoplasm.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ye Sun ◽  
Michael Smirnov ◽  
Naomi Kamasawa ◽  
Ryohei Yasuda

AbstractStructural plasticity of dendritic spines is considered to be the basis of synaptic plasticity, learning and memory. Here, we performed ultrastructural analysis of spines undergoing LTP using a novel high throughput correlative light-electron microscopy approach. We found that the PSD displays rapid (< 3 min) reorganization of its nanostructure, including perforation and segmentation. This increased structural complexity is maintained over intermediate and late phases of LTP (20 and 120 min). In a few spines, segmented PSDs are connected to different presynaptic terminals, producing a multi-innervated spine in the intermediate and late phases. In addition, the area of extrasynaptic axon-spine interface (eASI) displayed a pronounced, rapid and sustained increase. Finally, presynaptic vesicle number increased slowly and became significantly higher at late phases of LTP. These rapid ultrastructural changes in PSD and surrounding membrane, together with the slow increase in presynaptic vesicle number, likely support the rapid and sustained increase in synaptic transmission during LTP.


Author(s):  
Nakazo Watari ◽  
Yasuaki Hotta ◽  
Yoshio Mabuchi

It is very useful if we can observe the identical cell elements within the same sections by light microscopy (LM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and/or scanning electron microscopy (SEM) sequentially, because, the cell fine structure can not be indicated by LM, while the color is; on the other hand, the cell fine structure can be very easily observed by EM, although its color properties may not. However, there is one problem in that LM requires thick sections of over 1 μm, while EM needs very thin sections of under 100 nm. Recently, we have developed a new method to observe the same cell elements within the same plastic sections using both light and transmission (conventional or high-voltage) electron microscopes.In this paper, we have developed two new observation methods for the identical cell elements within the same sections, both plastic-embedded and paraffin-embedded, using light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and/or scanning electron microscopy (Fig. 1).


Author(s):  
J.R. Walton

In electron microscopy, lead is the metal most widely used for enhancing specimen contrast. Lead citrate requires a pH of 12 to stain thin sections of epoxy-embedded material rapidly and intensively. However, this high alkalinity tends to leach out enzyme reaction products, making lead citrate unsuitable for many cytochemical studies. Substitution of the chelator aspartate for citrate allows staining to be carried out at pH 6 or 7 without apparent effect on cytochemical products. Moreover, due to the low, controlled level of free lead ions, contamination-free staining can be carried out en bloc, prior to dehydration and embedding. En bloc use of lead aspartate permits the grid-staining step to be bypassed, allowing samples to be examined immediately after thin-sectioning.Procedures. To prevent precipitation of lead salts, double- or glass-distilled H20 used in the stain and rinses should be boiled to drive off carbon dioxide and glassware should be carefully rinsed to remove any persisting traces of calcium ion.


Author(s):  
N.C. Lyon ◽  
W. C. Mueller

Schumacher and Halbsguth first demonstrated ectodesmata as pores or channels in the epidermal cell walls in haustoria of Cuscuta odorata L. by light microscopy in tissues fixed in a sublimate fixative (30% ethyl alcohol, 30 ml:glacial acetic acid, 10 ml: 65% nitric acid, 1 ml: 40% formaldehyde, 5 ml: oxalic acid, 2 g: mecuric chloride to saturation 2-3 g). Other workers have published electron micrographs of structures transversing the outer epidermal cell in thin sections of plant leaves that have been interpreted as ectodesmata. Such structures are evident following treatment with Hg++ or Ag+ salts and are only rarely observed by electron microscopy. If ectodesmata exist without such treatment, and are not artefacts, they would afford natural pathways of entry for applied foliar solutions and plant viruses.


Author(s):  
M. O. Magnusson ◽  
D. G. Osborne ◽  
T. Shimoji ◽  
W. S. Kiser ◽  
W. A. Hawk

Short term experimental and clinical preservation of kidneys is presently best accomplished by hypothermic continuous pulsatile perfusion with cryoprecipitated and millipore filtered plasma. This study was undertaken to observe ultrastructural changes occurring during 24-hour preservation using the above mentioned method.A kidney was removed through a midline incision from healthy mongrel dogs under pentobarbital anesthesia. The kidneys were flushed immediately after removal with chilled electrolyte solution and placed on a LI-400 preservation system and perfused at 8-10°C. Serial kidney biopsies were obtained at 0-½-1-2-4-8-16 and 24 hours of preservation. All biopsies were prepared for electron microscopy. At the end of the preservation period the kidneys were autografted.


Author(s):  
P.J. Lea ◽  
M.J. Hollenberg

Our current understanding of mitochondrial ultrastructure has been derived primarily from thin sections using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). This information has been extrapolated into three dimensions by artist's impressions (1) or serial sectioning techniques in combination with computer processing (2). The resolution of serial reconstruction methods is limited by section thickness whereas artist's impressions have obvious disadvantages.In contrast, the new techniques of HRSEM used in this study (3) offer the opportunity to view simultaneously both the internal and external structure of mitochondria directly in three dimensions and in detail.The tridimensional ultrastructure of mitochondria from rat hepatocytes, retinal (retinal pigment epithelium), renal (proximal convoluted tubule) and adrenal cortex cells were studied by HRSEM. The specimens were prepared by aldehyde-osmium fixation in combination with freeze cleavage followed by partial extraction of cytosol with a weak solution of osmium tetroxide (4). The specimens were examined with a Hitachi S-570 scanning electron microscope, resolution better than 30 nm, where the secondary electron detector is located in the column directly above the specimen inserted within the objective lens.


Author(s):  
T. Baird ◽  
J.R. Fryer ◽  
S.T. Galbraith

Introduction Previously we had suggested (l) that the striations observed in the pod shaped crystals of β FeOOH were an artefact of imaging in the electron microscope. Contrary to this adsorption measurements on bulk material had indicated the presence of some porosity and Gallagher (2) had proposed a model structure - based on the hollandite structure - showing the hollandite rods forming the sides of 30Å pores running the length of the crystal. Low resolution electron microscopy by Watson (3) on sectioned crystals embedded in methylmethacrylate had tended to support the existence of such pores.We have applied modern high resolution techniques to the bulk crystals and thin sections of them without confirming these earlier postulatesExperimental β FeOOH was prepared by room temperature hydrolysis of 0.01M solutions of FeCl3.6H2O, The precipitate was washed, dried in air, and embedded in Scandiplast resin. The sections were out on an LKB III Ultramicrotome to a thickness of about 500Å.


Author(s):  
William H. Massover

Stereoscopic examination of thick sections of fixed and embedded biological tissues by high voltage electron microscopy has been shown to allow direct visualization of three-dimensional fine structure. The present report will consider the occurrence of some new technical problems in specimen preparation and Image interpretation that are not common during lower voltage studies of thin sections.Thick Sectioning and Tissue Coloration - Epon sections of 0.5 μm or more that are cut with glass knives do not have a uniform thickness as Judged by their interference colors; these colors change with time during their flotation on the knife bath, and again when drying onto the specimen support. Quoted thicknesses thus must be considered only as rough estimates unless measured in specific regions by other methods. Chloroform vapors do not always result in good spreading of thick sections; however, they will spread spontaneously to large degrees after resting on the flotation bath for several minutes. Ribbons of thick sections have been almost impossible to obtain.


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