Summary
The ultrastructure of the flame-cell of a Rotifera, Notommata copeus, is described.
The tube-like cell is provided with a thin wall containing the nucleus. One of the ends of this tube has the shape of a flattened fan-like ampulla, the flame bulb. A cap on the top-end of this ampulla, contains numerous mitochondria. Near the central cavity of the bulb, the cap is limited by a dense plate on which more than a hundred cilia are inserted. These cilia are linked together by means of cytoplasmic bonds, and form the vibratil flame which beats constantly inside the ampulla.
The wall of this ampulla is made of fine tubules which prolong the cytoplasm of the cap at the top, and the thin but compact wall of the capillary tube at the base. These tubules appear as two parallel and superposed crates: — a first crate near the cellulary duct, is formed by the pillars (2000 Å in diameter), the substance of which has a dense aspect; — a second crate near the pseudocoel shows a greater number of small columns (700 Å in diameter) with a clearer appearence. Two thicker columns form the two lateral cytoplasmic posts of the bulb and include mitochondria.
These vertical bars support two kinds of membranes: the intercolumnal membranes (120 to 150 Å thick) and, between the pillars and the columns, the radiating “membranes” (20 to 50 Å thick). A third type should be mentioned: the basal membrane which covers the side of the cell facing the pseudocoel.
Some hypotheses are offered concerning the possible physiological role played by the membranes if their structures are compared with that of the filtering membranes of the Malpighian glomerule in the kidney of Vertebrates. This comparison has been extended to the filtering agents themselves, emphasis being drawn on the function of the flame-cell in Rotifera.
Résumé
L'ultrastructure de la cellule-flamme d'un Rotifère, Notommata copeus, est décrite en détail.
La cellule est formée d'un long tube capillaire, à paroi fine contenant le noyau, et dont une extrémité est dilatée en une ampoule aplatie en forme d'éventail.
Au sommet de cette ampoule, le capuchon contient de nombreuses mitochondries et, vers la lumière cellulaire, une plaque dense sur laquelle sont insèrés tous les cils (plus de cent), réunis par des ponts cytoplasmiques, formant la flamme vibratile qui bat en permanence à l'intérieur de l'ampoule.
La paroi de cette dernière est très différenciée en de fins tubules, prolongeant au sommet le cytoplasme du capuchon, à la base celui de la paroi mince mais compacte qui formera le tube capillaire. Ils se présentent sous la forme de deux grilles parallèles et superposées: — les piliers (2000 Å de diamètre), au contenu dense, vers la lumière cellulaire; — les colonnettes (700 Å de diamètre), plus nombreuses, au contenu moins dense, vers le pseudocoele. Deux colonnettes sont élargies en montants cytoplasmiques latéraux contenant les mitochondries.
Ces barreaux verticaux sous-tendent des membranes filtrantes de deux types, auxquelles il faut rajouter, vers le pseudocoele, la fine membrane basale qui enveloppe la cellule: les membranes intercolonnettes (120 à 150 Å d'épaisseur) et, entre les piliers et les colonnettes, des ≪membranes≫ rayonnantes (de 20 à 50 Å d'épaisseur).
Quelques hypothèses sont émises quant au rôle physiologique possible de ces membranes, en comparant leur structure à celle des membranes filtrantes du glomérule Malpighien du rein de Vertèbré. Nous avons poussé cette comparaison jusqu'aux facteurs entraînant la filtration, insistant en particulier sur le rôle très probable de la flamme vibratile chez les Rotifères
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Clement, P. Ultrastructures d'un rotifère: Notommata copeus . Z. Zellforsch. 89, 478–498 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00336174
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00336174