Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T08:44:46.909Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The fine structure of the body wall of Polymorphus minutus (Goeze, 1782) (Acanthocephala)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

D. W. T. Crompton  and
D. L. Lee
D. W. T. Crompton
Affiliation:
The Molteno Institute, University of Cambridge
D. L. Lee*
Affiliation:
The Molteno Institute, University of Cambridge
*
This investigation was supported in part by U.S.P.H.S. grant AI-04275 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The body wall of Polymorphus minutus has been studied with the electron microscope and the structure of the various layers has been described.

The layers are the same in number as those seen with the light microscope, and pores have been found which penetrate the cuticle. Thus, the structure of the surface layers is such as would facilitate the absorption of nutrients.

It has been found that the cuticle and striped layer extend over the trunk spines, a feature which increases the area of the absorptive surface of the parasite.

The structure of the striped layer of the praesoma supports the theory that the praesoma body wall and lemnisci are involved in the absorption of fat.

Mitochondria have been detected in the felt and radial layers of the body wall and in the circular and longitudinal muscles.

The body wall of this acanthocephalan worm is entirely different from the body wall of trematodes, cestodes and parasitic nematodes.

We are grateful to Dr P. Tate for helpful discussions, Dr R. J. Skaer for criticism of the manuscript and to Professor J. D. Boyd for permission to use the electron microscope in the Department of Anatomy. Thanks are also due to Mr A. J. Page for technical assistance.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 55 , Issue 2 , May 1965 , pp. 357 - 364
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1965

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bird, A. F. & Deutsch, K. (1957). The structure of the cuticle of Ascaris lumbricoides var. suis. Parasitology, 47, 319–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Björkman, N. & Thorsell, W. (1964). On the fine structure and resorptive function of the cuticle of the liverfluke, Fasciola hepatica. Expl Cell Res. 33, 319–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bullock, W. L. (1949). Histochemical studies on the Acanthocephala. II. The distribution of glycogen and fatty substances. J. Morph. 84, 201–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crompton, D. W. T. (1963). Morphological and histochemical observations on Polymorphus minutus (Goeze, 1782), with special reference to the body wall. Parasitology, 53, 663–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crompton, D. W. T. (1964). PhD. Thesis. University of Cambridge.Google Scholar
Hinz, E. (1963). Elektronenmikroskopische Untersuchungen an Parascaris equorum. Protoplasma, 56, 202–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, D. L. (1965). The cuticle of adult Nippostrongylus brasiliensis. Parasitology, 55, 173–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nicholas, W. L. & Hynes, H. B. N. (1963). Embryology, post-embryonic development, and phylogeny of the Acanthocephala. In The Lower Metazoa. Comparative Biology and Phylogeny. Editors: Dougherty, E. C., Brown, Z. N., Hanson, E. D. & Hartman, W. D.. University of California Press.Google Scholar
Pearse, A. G. E. (1960). Histochemistry, Theoretical and applied. 2nd ed.London. J. and A. Churchill Ltd.Google Scholar
Pflugfelder, O. (1949). Histophysiologie Untersuchungen über die Fettresorption darmloser Parasiten: Die Funktion der Lemnisken der Acanthocephalan. Z. Parasitenk. 14, 274–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rothman, A. H. (1959). The physiology of tapeworms, correlated to structures seen with the electron microscope. J. Parasit. 45, 28.Google Scholar
Rothman, A. H. (1963). Electron microscope studies of tapeworms: the surface structures of Hymenolepis diminuta (Rudolphi, 1819) Blanchard, 1891. Trans. Amer. micr. Soc. 82, 22–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rothman, A. H. & Rosario, B. (1961). The structure of the surface of Macracanthorhynchus hirundinaceus, as seen with the electron microscope. J. Parasit. 47 (suppl.), 25.Google Scholar
Threadgold, L. T. (1962). An electron microscope study of the tegument and associated structures of Dipylidium caninum. Quart. J. micr. Sci. 103, 135–40.Google Scholar
Threadgold, L. T. (1963). The tegument and associated structures of Fasciola hepatica. Quart. J. micr. Sci. 104, 505–12.Google Scholar
Van Cleave, H. J. (1952). Some host-parasite relationships of the Acanthocephala, with special reference to the organs of attachment. Expl Parasit. 1, 305–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, K. A. (1963). Cytology of the bacillary bands of the nematode Capillaria hepatica (Bancroft, 1893). J. Morph. 112, 233–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar