[INTRAVITAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE NUCLEOLUS IN OVOGENESIS OF SOME MOLLUSCA].
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[Biological studies of mollusca in Jadotville].
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[Observations on the nucleoli in the nerve cells of gasteropodal mollusca].
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Marine dermatosis. Notes on "seabather's eruption" with Creseis acicula Rang (Mollusca: Pteropoda) as the cause of a particular type of sea sting along the west coast of Florida.
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Lipoproteins of the egg perivitelline fluid of Pomacea canaliculata snails (Mollusca: Gastropoda).
The lipid and protein composition of the perivitelline fluid of the eggs of Pomacea canaliculata was investigated. Two lipoproteins (PV 1 and PV 2) and one lipoprotein fraction (PV 3) were detected for the first time in gastropods. They represent 57.0, 7.5, and 35.5% of the egg total proteins, respectively. PV 1 is a glyco-carotene-protein complex with characteristics of a very high-density lipoprotein (VHDL). It has 0.33% lipids, mainly free sterols and phospholipids. The particle has a MW of 300 Kd and is composed of three subunits of 35, 32, and 28 Kd, respectively. PV 2 particle is a VHDL of 400 Kd and 3.75% lipids. The major lipid classes are free sterols and phospholipids and also have significant quantities of energy-providing triacylglycerides and free fatty acids. It is composed of two apoproteins of 67 and 31 Kd. PV 3 density corresponds to a high-density lipoprotein (HDL). It was fractionated into two subfractions "h" and "p". Fraction "h" contains 5.16% lipids, mainly free sterols, phospholipids, and free fatty acids, and two particles of 100 and 64 Kd. Dissociating electrophoresis showed two subunits of 34 and 29 Kd. Fraction "p" is composed of a single particle of 26 Kd that contains 9.5% lipids, which represents 30% of the total egg lipids. It has high levels of a carotenoid pigment. Besides it contains free fatty acids, hydrocarbons, sterified sterols, and triacylglycerides. These three fractions are probably the major supply of lipids and amino acids for the developing embryo.
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Fine structure of the germinating cells during the spermiogenesis of Arion rufus (Mollusca, Pulmonate Gastropoda).
Changes in spermatozoan ultrastructure have been studied during spermiogenesis of the slug Arion rufus (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Stylommatophora). The ovotestis was investigated during the male stage, definite by the presence of spermatozoa. Some peculiar characteristics are shown by early spermatids: Around the nucleus, the nuclear envelope presents two thick layers located on opposite sides, the apical and basal plates, that will determine the antero-posterior axis of the spermatid. The chromatin, first dispersed throughout the nucleoplasm gives later on thick filaments which become attached over the inner surface of these plates. The chromatin filaments are then arranged parallel to the anteroposterior axis as the nucleus elongates. The position of the plates determines the antero-posterior axis of the spermatid. In the mature spermatozoa, the chromatin is more condensed and the nucleus presents an helical organization. The acrosome and flagellum are respectively attached externally to the center of the apical and basal plates. The acrosome consists of a membrane-bound vesicle and forms a column of homogeneous material. In the middle piece, the mitochondria have been transformed into a mitochondrial derivate by the way of a complicated metamorphosis. The axoneme is surrounded by three mitochondrial helices but only one of them contains glycogene granules.
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Cell interactions influence the pattern of biomineralization in the Ilyanassa obsoleta (Mollusca) embryo.
Ilyanassa obsoleta larvae have two calcium carbonate-containing organs, shell and statocyst, which are derived from five micromere cells (2a, 2c, 2d, 3c, 3d). "Internal shell," an abnormal, internal calcium carbonate mass, was previously observed when cells which normally induce shell and statocyst were removed. This study utilizes multiple-cell deletions to examine how these calcium carbonate-producing precursors control the pattern of biomineralization, whether it is in external shell, statocyst, or internal shell. It was demonstrated that internal shell was solely derived from any of these five cells. However, there was a quantitative difference in the frequency of internal shell production depending upon which cells, as well as how many, are deleted. In general, when external shell or statocyst production was diminished, as the result of removing several of the calcium carbonate-producing cells, internal shell was deposited instead. The presence of internal shell can best be explained as the result of altered interactions between these five cells after one or more have been deleted. Electron diffraction and transmission electron microscopy show that internal shell differs from normal shell in both structure and crystal morphology and it can also be produced by statocyst precursors. Thus, both the deletion and electron microscopy data support the interpretation that the development of internal shell is controlled by shell- and statocyst-producing cells when the cell communication between these cells is disrupted.
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Neuronal development in larval chiton Ischnochiton hakodadensis (Mollusca: Polyplacophora).
Chitons are the most primitive molluscs and, thus, a matter of considerable interest for understanding both basic principles of molluscan neurogenesis and phylogeny. The development of the nervous system in trochophores of the chiton Ischnochiton hakodadensis from hatching to metamorphosis is described in detail by using confocal laser scanning microscopy and antibodies raised against serotonin, FMRFamide, and acetylated alpha tubulin. The earliest nervous elements detected were peripheral neurons located in the frontal hemisphere of posthatching trochophores and projecting into the apical organ. Among them, two pairs of unique large lateral cells appear to pioneer the pathways of developing adult nervous system. Chitons possess an apical organ that contains the largest number of neurons among all molluscan larvae investigated so far. Besides, many pretrochal neurons are situated outside the apical organ. The prototroch is not innervated by larval neurons. The first neurons of the developing adult central nervous system (CNS) appear later in the cerebral ganglion and pedal cords. None of the neurons of the larval nervous system are retained in the adult CNS. They cease to express their transmitter content and disintegrate after settlement. Although the adult CNS of chitons resembles that of polychaetes, their general scenario of neuronal development resembles that of advanced molluscs and differs from annelids. Thus, our data demonstrate the conservative pattern of molluscan neurogenesis and suggest independent origin of molluscan and annelid trochophores.
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Absence of formation of benzo[a]pyrene/DNA adducts in the cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis, Mollusca: Cephalopoda).
Benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) injected intramuscularly into the base of the arms of cuttlefish was released continuously from the injection site and removed from the organism. Only a portion of the compound accumulated in the body. Twenty-four hr after its injection, 75% of B[a]P applied in olive oil was removed from the cuttlefish, and 1.2% was found in the body outside the head, the site of injection. If the carcinogen was dissolved in dimethylformamide, the removal of B[a]P was slower, so that only 18% of the injected B[a]P was removed from the organism and 0.36% accumulated in the body outside the head 24 hr after injection. The high level of B[a]P in gills and hemolymph 4 hr after injection and the kinetics of the decrease of its concentration with time indicate that these two organs could be involved in the excretion of B[a]P from the body. The B[a]P/DNA adducts characteristic for vertebrates could not be demonstrated in gills, skin, brain, hepatopancreas, and lymphocytes of the cuttlefish 24 hr after injection of B[a]P. The dose of the carcinogen injected into the cuttlefish was 2-4 times higher than the dose resulting in the formation of a high level of B[a]P/DNA adducts in the vertebrates. A different metabolism of B[a]P in the tissue of cephalopods, compared to vertebrates, could be less favorable to the process leading to malignant transformation and could explain the absence from the literature of reports of tumors in cephalopods.
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Chemotactic behavior of the sperm of chitons (Mollusca: Polyplacophora).
Observations of sperm behavior in the vicinity of gradients of egg-water or alcohol extracts of whole freshly-spawned eggs of several chitons reveal what appear to be directed movements of sperm up the gradient, resulting in the aggregation of motile sperm at the gradient source. Plots of the tracks of the sperm approaching the gradient source show that the cells increase the time during which they move toward the source and decrease the time spent moving away. Although this resembles the kinesis behavior shown by bacteria in a gradient, the path directions are markedly non-random. The reorientation behavior of thigmotactic sperm involves enlargement of the normal circular path diameter in the direction of the source and an alternation of tight loops and wide circular arcs, with the latter made in the direction of the source. The form of the path of attracted chiton sperm is like that observed during chemotaxis of the sperm of the hydroid Tubularia and the tunicate Ciona and resembles the behavior of Ciona sperm in that there is no increase in velocity as the cells move up the gradient. However, unlike the cnidarian and urochordate cases, the attracting substances extracted from chiton eggs do not act species-specifically.
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Sperm nuclear decondensation in Barnea candida (mollusca, pelecypoda) oocytes does not require germinal vesicle breakdown.
Barnea candida oocytes, submitted to D-600 (100 microM) 15-20 seconds after insemination in order to inhibit Ca++ uptake but not acid release, fail to exhibit germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) whereas penetrated spermatozoa are able to decondense normally. Oocytes transferred in 100 mM Na-acetate seawater at pH 6.3, 1 minute after insemination, in order to inhibit acid release, fail to undergo GVBD and sperm nuclear decondensation. Upon return of these oocytes to normal seawater and treatment with an excess of KCl, they exhibit GVBD and decondensed sperm nuclei are seen within their cytoplasm. These results show that sperm nuclear decondensation does not require GVBD or Ca++ uptake but may be related to an intracellular pH increase.
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Cardiac output and tissue blood flow in the abalone, Haliotis cracherodii (Mollusca, Gastropoda).
Little is known about the characteristics of hemolymph (blood) flow in animals with open circulatory systems. We measured cardiac output and blood flow to specific tissues in the black abalone, Haliotis cracherodii, a gastropod mollusk. The use of thermodilution allowed us to make repeated measurements of cardiac output and cardiac stroke volume over relatively short time intervals (5-10 heart beats) in resting, unrestrained abalone while disturbing the animals minimally. Anatomical studies of the abalone circulation showed that the arterial system terminated in small diameter (approaching 10-20 micron in some cases) lacunar tissue spaces. Because of this, we used radioactive microspheres (which must be trapped in the tissue vasculature) to measure blood flow rates to selected tissues. The major findings of our study were that 1) cardiac output in the black abalone ranged from about 100 to 150 ml X kg-1 X min-1, and was highly correlated with body size; 2) weight-specific cardiac stroke volume was about 5 ml X kg-1, considerably larger than that of a mammal; 3) tissue blood flow rates ranged from 10 ml X 100 g-1 X min-1 (foot muscle) to 80 ml X 100 g-1 X min-1 (nephridial tissue), similar to typical tissue blood flow rates in mammals. Our data suggest that the blood in the abalone is directed to the tissues not in proportion to percent total body weight the tissues represent (as might be expected in an open vascular system), but apparently in proportion to tissue metabolic rate.
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Shell growth and chamber formation of aquarium-reared Nautilus pompilius (Mollusca, Cephalopoda) by X-ray analysis.
Observations on the growth rate of aquarium maintained Nautilus pompilius in different developmental stages, i.e. juveniles (shell length about 8.75 cm), late juveniles (approximately 10 cm), and early adolescent (approximately 13.5 cm), indicate that this species is fully grown at an age of 7.3-8 years. The age calculations are based on two different computations: (1) the measurement of the increase of the shell length per day and (2) the formation of new septa in time intervals of 150+/-5 days, as demonstrated by X-ray analyses. After N. pompilius hatches, its shell grows about 139 mm to reach full growth and approximately 28 septa are formed. With an increase of the shell length of 0.052 mm per day, it takes about 2,673 days (7.3 years) to reach maturity. Provided that the process of chamber formation follows an exponential function, these computations result in approximately 2,925 days (8 years) to reach full maturity. Supposing that N. pompilius may live for several years after onset of maturity like Nautilus belauensis, the total life span for this species may exceed 11-12 years.
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Trochophora larvae: cell-lineages, ciliary bands, and body regions. 1. Annelida and Mollusca.
The trochophora concept and the literature on cleavage patterns and differentiation of ectodermal structures in annelids ("polychaetes") and molluscs are reviewed. The early development shows some variation within both phyla, and the cephalopods have a highly modified development. Nevertheless, there are conspicuous similarities between the early development of the two phyla, related to the highly conserved spiral cleavage pattern. Apical and cerebral ganglia have almost identical origin in the two phyla, and the cell-lineage of the prototroch is identical, except for minor variations between species. The cell-lineage of the metatrochs is almost unknown, but the telotroch of annelids and the "telotroch" of the gastropod Patella originate from the 2d-cell, as does the gastrotroch in the few species which have been studied. The segmented annelid body, i.e. the region behind the peristome, develops through addition of new ectoderm from a ring of 2d-cells just in front of the telotroch. This whole region is thus derived from 2d-cells. Conversely, the mollusc body is covered by descendants of cells from both the C and D quadrants and a growth zone is not apparent. This supports the notion that the molluscs are not segmented like the annelids, and that the repeated structures seen in polyplacophorans and monoplacophorans do not represent a segmentation homologous to that of the annelids.
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Muscle development in Antalis entalis (Mollusca, Scaphopoda) and its significance for scaphopod relationships.
We applied fluorescence staining of F-actin, confocal laser scanning microscopy, as well as bright-field light microscopy, SEM, and TEM to examine myogenesis in larval and early juvenile stages of the tusk-shell, Antalis entalis. Myogenesis follows a strict bilaterally symmetrical pattern without special larval muscle systems. The paired cephalic and foot retractors appear synchronously in the early trochophore-like larva. In late larvae, both retractors form additional fibers that project into the anterior region, thus enabling retraction of the larval prototroch. These fibers, together with the prototroch, disappear during metamorphosis. The anlagen of the putative foot musculature, mantle retractors, and buccal musculature are formed in late larval stages. The cephalic captacula and their musculature are of postmetamorphic origin. Development of the foot musculature is dramatically pronounced after metamorphosis and results in a dense muscular grid consisting of outer ring, intermediate diagonal, and inner longitudinal fibers. This is in accordance with the proposed function of the foot as a burrowing organ based on muscle-antagonistic activity. The existence of a distinct pair of cephalic retractors, which is also found in basal gastropods and cephalopods, as well as new data on scaphopod shell morphogenesis and recent cladistic analyses, indicate that the Scaphopoda may be more closely related to the Gastropoda and Cephalopoda than to the Bivalvia.
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Functional morphology of the mantle of Nautilus pompilius (Mollusca, Cephalopoda).
This study presents histological and cytological findings on the structural differentiation of the mantle of Nautilus pompilius in order to characterize the cells that are responsible for shell formation. The lateral and front mantle edges split distally into three folds: an outer, middle, and inner fold. Within the upper part of the mantle the mantle edge is divided into two folds only; the inner fold disappears where the hood is attached to the mantle. At the base of the outer fold of the lateral and front mantle edge an endo-epithelial gland, the mantle edge gland, is localized. The gland cells are distinguished by a distinct rough endoplasmic reticulum and by numerous secretory vesicles. Furthermore, they show a strong accumulation of calcium compounds, indicating that the formation of the shell takes place in this region of the mantle. Numerous synaptic contacts between the gland cells and the axons of the nerve fibers reveal that the secretion in the area of the mantle edge gland is under nervous control. The whole mantle tissue is covered with a columnar epithelium having a microvillar border. The analyses of the outer epithelium show ultrastructural characteristics of a transport active epithelium, indicating that this region of the mantle is involved in the sclerotization of the shell. Ultrastructural findings concerning the epithelium between the outer and middle fold suggest that the periostracum is formed in this area of the mantle, as it is in other conchiferan molluscs.
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Foregut glands of Solenogastres (mollusca): anatomy and revised terminology.
In the molluscan class Solenogastres, different types of foregut glands vary in number, structure, and location within the foregut. The present article describes their anatomy and cytology and intends to clarify their confused terminology. Pharyngeal glands, esophageal glands, and the more complex dorsal and ventrolateral foregut glands can be distinguished. The ventrolateral foregut glands (ventral foregut glandular organs, ventral salivary glands of auct.), in the literature subdivided previously into four types, are revisited here in the context of current vertebrate gland terminology. The results of recent investigations are added to earlier ones, and a classification system for these multicellular glands is proposed. This system is based on cytological characters of glandular cells (intra- or extraepithelial), characters of the associated musculature (inner or outer musculature), location of the gland relative to the pharynx epithelium (endoepithelial or exoepithelial), characters of the gland openings (paired or unpaired), morphology of the gland duct (simple or branched), and some additional features like the arrangement of glandular cells along the gland ducts. Gross morphology and anatomy of ventrolateral foregut glands constitute useful taxonomic characters in determining higher taxa (family level), and finer details of the anatomy and cytology are useful in determining lower levels (genus and species). Possible pathways for the evolution of the different gland types of Solenogastres in relation to foregut glands present in the other molluscan clades are presented. The importance of ventrolateral foregut gland characters for phylogenetic considerations within the Solenogastres is discussed.
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Fine structure of the mineralized teeth of the chiton Acanthopleura echinata (Mollusca: Polyplacophora).
The major lateral teeth of the chiton Acanthopleura echinata are composite structures composed of three distinct mineral zones: a posterior layer of magnetite; a thin band of lepidocrocite just anterior to this; and apatite throughout the core and anterior regions of the cusp. Biomineralization in these teeth is a matrix-mediated process, in which the minerals are deposited around fibers, with the different biominerals described as occupying architecturally discrete compartments. In this study, a range of scanning electron microscopes was utilized to undertake a detailed in situ investigation of the fine structure of the major lateral teeth. The arrangement of the organic and biomineral components of the tooth is similar throughout the three zones, having no discrete borders between them, and with crystallites of each mineral phase extending into the adjacent mineral zone. Along the posterior surface of the tooth, the organic fibers are arranged in a series of fine parallel lines, but just within the periphery their appearance takes on a "fish scale"-like pattern, reflective of the cross section of a series of units that are overlaid, and offset from each other, in adjacent rows. The units are approximately 2 microm wide and 0.6 microm thick and comprise biomineral plates separated by organic fibers. Two types of subunits make up each "fish scale": one is elongate and curved and forms a trough, in which the other, rod-like unit, is nestled. Adjacent rod and trough units are aligned into large sheets that define the fracture plane of the tooth. The alignment of the plates of rod-trough units is complex and exhibits extreme spatial variation within the tooth cusp. Close to the posterior surface the plates are essentially horizontal and lie in a lateromedial plane, while anteriorly they are almost vertical and lie in the posteroanterior plane. An understanding of the fine structure of the mineralized teeth of chitons, and of the relationship between the organic and mineral components, provides a new insight into biomineralization mechanisms and controls.
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