Summary
Vegetative growth of Nosema sp. occurs within the gut submucosal cells of Callinectes sapidus. Vegetative cell morphology is dominated by profiles of endoplasmic reticulum, numerous free ribosomes and aggregates of vesicles enclosed by a membranous sac. The dikaryotic vegetative cell is the earliest stage found in the target area for sporogenesis, the sarcoplasm of the striated muscle cell. The next obvious stage is the sporoblast mother cell; it undergoes karyokinesis without breakdown of the nuclear envelope. Intranuclear mitotic microtubules extend from the chromosomes to the intact nuclear envelope. After repeated nuclear divisions, the sporoblast mother cell undergoes delayed cytokinesis and a series of sporoblast progeny develops.
The polar filament is the first visually apparent system to develop during sporogenesis. It appears to be of dual origin: (1) the central core component is condensed in Golgi-like saccules, and (2) the envelopes around the core originate from the endoplasmic reticulum.
The polaroplast, which forms after early polar filament development, appears to originate as an elaboration of the endoplasmic reticulum.
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Supported in part by a training grant from the National Institutes of Health (GM-669-05) and research grants from the National Science Foundation (GB-3036, GB-5235, and GB-7938) to Prof. F. Sogandares-Bernal. The skillful guidance of Prof. F. Sogandares-Bernal is acknowledged. Special thanks are extended to Prof. D. E. Copeland for the use of a Siemens Elmiskop IA electron microscope. I also wish to thank Mr. Julian King, professional fisherman of Irish Bayou, Louisiana, for providing hundreds of blue crabs used in the course of this study.
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Weidner, E. Ultrastructural study of microsporidian development. Z. Zellforsch. 105, 33–54 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00340563
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00340563