The forebody and foregut of Crepidostomum metoecus Braun, 1900 are invested with a tegument bearing regularly arranged surface tubercles comparable with the aspidogastrean surface structures. The tegument of the ventrolateral lobes and of the prepharynx is penetrated by ducts of eccrine gland cells. The frontal and prepharyngeal gland cells, localised in the parenchyma, discharge electron-dense granules. Their ducts are lined by peripheral microtubules and fixed to the tegument plasmalemma by a septate junction. The functional roles of these glands are discussed.
While the majority of polyopisthocotylean monogeneans feed on blood, some polystomatids infecting chelonians do not. This study examined the gastrodermis of two polystomatids, one - Neopolystoma spratti Pichelin, 1995 - from the conjunctival sac of a chelonian and the other - Concinnocotyla australensis (Reichenbach-Klinke, 1966) - from the oral cavity, gill arches and primary gill lamellae of a fish, and also found no evidence of blood feeding. However, the gastrodermal architecture in both species basically resembles that found in blood feeding polyopisthocotyleans, with alternation of lamellated digestive cells and an intervening syncytium. In C. australensis, oesophageal secretion appeared to be responsible for initial extracellular digestion and this was followed by pinocytotic uptake of partly degraded material in pits between the numerous apical lamellae of digestive cells. Posterior dorsolateral gut pockets unique to C. australensis were shown to be blind sacs separated from the external environment by a narrow cytoplasmic bridge, composed of a thin layer of tegument apposed to a thin layer of pocket syncytial epithelium. The pockets are lined with greatly folded syncytium and set in a “capsule” of tissue in which numerous pro-tonephridial flame cells are embedded. It is suggested that the pockets have an osmoregulatory function related to the particular environment and evolutionary history of the host, the primitive lung fish (Dipnoi) Neoceratodus forsteri (Krefft, 1870).
An ultrastructural study of the ovarian follicles and their associated oviducts of the cestode Gyrocotyle urna Grube et Wagener, 1852, a parasite from the spiral valve of the rabbit fish, Chimaera monstrosa L., was undertaken. Each follicle gives rise to follicular oviduct, which opens into one of the five collecting ducts, through which pass mature oocytes. These collecting ducts open into an ovarian receptacle which, in turn, opens via a muscular sphincter (the oocapt) to the main oviduct. The maturation of oocytes surrounded by the syncytial interstitial cells within the ovarian follicles of G. urna follows a pattern similar to that in Eucestoda. The ooplasm of mature oocytes contain lipid droplets (2.0 × 1.8 µm) and cortical granules (0.26 × 0.19 µm). The cytoplasm of primary and secondary oocytes contains centrioles, indicating the presence of the so-called ''centriole cycle'' during oocyte divisions. A morphological variation between different oviducts was observed. The luminal surface of the follicular and the collecting oviducts is smooth. The zones of the septate junctions are present within the distal portion of the net-like epithelial wall of the collecting ducts close to the ovarian receptacle. The syncytial epithelial lining of the ovarian receptacle, oocapt and main oviduct is covered with lamellae and cilia. Cortical granules secreted from mature oocytes occur freely within the lumen of the main oviduct that functions as a fertilisation canal. A division of the ovary into separated parts with their own collecting ducts as that typical of Gyrocotyle has been observed in neodermates, basal monogenean family Chimaericolidae, and Neoophora (some Proseriata and Fecampiidae). Ultrastructural data thus reveal several unique morphological characteristics of gyrocotylideans, the most basal taxon of tapeworms (Cestoda).
Ultrastructure of the primitive epithelium of Echinostoma revolutum (Digenea: Echinostomatidae) cercaria was studied. The germinal balls and developing cercariae are covered with the primitive epithelium in daughter rediae. When the definitive tegument of the cercaria is differentiated, the primitive epithelium degenerates. The last remnants of the primitive epithelium in a cercaria can be detected at the stage when the lateral gland cells have released their secretion into the definitive tegument.
The ultrastructure of the scolex tegument, bothridial pits (“ciliated pits) and rhyncheal system of Otobothrium mugilis Hiscock, 1954 is described from plerocerci collected from the teleosts Arius graeffei Kncr ct Steindachner and Mugil cephalus Linnaeus. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that filamentous microtriches with shortened caps are abundant across the entire surface of the tegument. Palmate microtriches are dominant on the bothridia and their margins. The surfaces of bothridial pits were covered with large bifid microtrichcs. The bothridial pits arc strongly muscularised invaginations of the tegument. Nervous tissues were not observed within the pits and it is probable that these structures function as accessory attachment structures. The wall of each tentacle sheath consists of one to three bands of fibrils, lined internally by a thin cytoplasmic layer. The tentacular walls are cellular, containing myofilaments. The fibrils of the tentacular walls are arranged into discrete blocks of parallel fibrils and appear to be intracellular. Tentacular walls are lined externally by a modified membrane with an external glycocalyx. Tentacular hooks arc solid, bound externally by a membrane. The body of the hook contains numerous longitudinal canaliculi and an elcctron-opaquc medulla lies at the centre of the hook.
The secondary osmoregulatory canals in the scolex and neck region of Silurotaenia siluri, a parasite of the catfish Silurus glanis (L.), terminate below the tegument basal plasma membrane. The basal plasma membrane of the osmoregulatory canal syncytium is in tight contact with the tegument basal plasma membrane.
The present study describes the ultrastructure of the mature spermatozoon of Lecithocladium excisum (Rudolphi, 1819) (Digenea: Hemiuroidea: Hemiuridae) from the stomach of the marine teleost Scomber japonicus Houttuyn (Scombridae) captured in the Atlantic Ocean, off Dakar (Senegal). The ultrastructural organization of the spermatozoon of L. excisum follows the general model described in most digeneans. It presents two axonemes of the 9+'1' pattern of the Trepaxonemata, nucleus, mitochondrion and parallel cortical microtubules, among other characters. However, some particularities of the spermatozoon of L. excisum are (i) the presence of a membranous ornamentation not associated with cortical microtubules in its anterior extremity, (ii) the presence of a very reduced number of cortical microtubules located only in the ventral side of the spermatozoon and (iii) the absence of several structures described in most digeneans such as spine-like bodies and cytoplasmic expansions.
The surface structures and gland cells of the posterior rosette organ of Gyrocotyle urna Grube et Wagener, 1852, a member of the group presumed to be the most basal of the tapeworms (Cestoda: Gyrocotylidea), was studied by scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy. Surface structures on the outer (oriented away from the intestinal wall) and inner (in contact with the intestinal wall) rosette surfaces differ from each other and represent a transitional form between microvilli and microtriches typical of tapeworms (Eucestoda). The inner surface of the rosette possesses numerous glands. On the basis of the size and electron-density of their secretory granules, three types of unicellular gland cells can be distinguished. The least common type (Type I) is characterized by the production of small, round, electron-dense granules of about 0.3 µm in diameter, whereas another type of secretion (Type II) is formed from homogenous, moderately electron-dense, spheroidal granules of about 0.7 µm in diameter. The most common type of glands (Type III) is recognized by a secretion comprising large, elongate, electron-dense granules of about 1 µm long and 0.5 µm broad. The secretory granules of the three types of the glands are liberated by an eccrine mechanism and the gland ducts open via small pores on the inner rosette surface. The complex of secretory glands of the posterior rosette of G. urna is similar to those in the anterior attachment glands of monogeneans (as opposed to the types of glands present in other helminth groups). However, the tegumental surface structures of Gyrocotyle are supporting evidence for the relationship between the Gyrocotylidea and Eucestoda.
The ultrastructure of three types of unicellular scolex gland cells in adult cestode Bothriocephalus claviceps (Goeze, 1782) is described. The first type - apocrine gland cells transport their secretion (small rounded electron dense granules) via thin ducts into the tegument where it accumulates as projections on the body surface. The second type - eccrine gland cells press out their secretion (large oval electron dense granules) through ducts which open to the exterior surface of the tegument. The third type - microapocrine gland cells transport their secretion (large rounded electron dense granules) through thin cytoplasmic processes into the distal cytoplasm of the tegument. The secretory discharge occurs by means of évaginations of the outer tegumental plasmalemma and their subsequent detachment. The possible functions of the scolex gland cells are discussed.
The changes in pigment-protein composition of chloroplasts in Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp seedlings grown under control and ultraviolet-B (UV-B) enhanced radiation at various temperatures were studied. The chlorophyll-protein (CP) complexes isolated from seedlings after 60 h of continuous UV-B enhanced radiation treatment showed temperature-dependent changes in their levels. At 10 ^C, well marked CPI, CP2a, CP47, CP2 and free pigment bands were seen in UV-B treated seedlings while control seedlings had no detectable green bands. UV-B enhanced radiation decreased the level of CPI, CP2a and CP2 complexes which was more pronounced at 20 and 30 °C than at 40 oC. The analysis of chloroplast polypeptides revealed a drastic decrease in the levels of 55, 47, 33, 25, 23, 22 and 17 kDa polypeptides in UV-B treated seedlings at 20 and 30 oC, and marginal decrease in the levels of 47, 43 and 16 kDa polypeptides at 40 ^C. In contrast to this, at 10 oC large increase in many polypeptides was noticed in UV-B treated seedlings.