Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-qlrfm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-09T17:04:55.308Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Studies on the structure of the female reproductive system and egg-shell formation in Aspiculuris tetraptera Schulz, (Nematoda: Oxyuroidea)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

A. O. Anya
Affiliation:
Molteno Institute, University of Cambridge

Extract

The histological anatomy of the female reproductive system of an oxyuroid nematode, Aspiculuris tetraptera, Schulz, has been described.

The process of egg-shell formation in this animal has been followed in detail while the structural and chemical characteristics of the egg-shell have been studied by histochemical and other methods. It is shown that there are three layers: a lipoprotein layer, a ‘chitinous’ layer and the so-called vitelline (glycosidal) membrane. Evidence is presented for the exogenous origin of the lipoprotein layer: this being formed by the cells of the upper uterus which are shown to be secretory.

The question of quinone-tanning in the egg-shell of A. tetraptera and in other oxyuroids and ascarids is considered. It is shown that neither a polyphenol oxidase nor a high concentration of phenolic substances (apart from protein tyrosine) exists in this system. The significance of these and other observations is discussed in relation to the mechanism of tanning as elucidated in insects and trematodes.

I have to acknowledge with gratitude the support of many during these investigations. To Dr P. Tate for his encouragement and provision of facilities at the Molteno Institute; to Dr D. L. Lee, for much useful discussion and permission to refer to some of his unpublished electron micrographs of nematodes; to Professor J. D. Smyth, who kindly read through the manuscript; to the Cambridge Philosophical Society for a grant that made possible the translation of Fauré-Frémiet's classical study on Ascaris; and to the Department of Technical Cooperation for financial assistance.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1964

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

REFERENCES

Anya, A. O. (1964). The distribution of lipids and glycogen in female oxyuroids. Parasitology, 54, 555–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beneden, E. van (1883). L'appareil sexuelle femelle de l'Ascaride megalocephale. Archs Biol. 4, 95142.Google Scholar
Bird, A. F. (1958). The adult female cuticle and egg sac of the genus Meloidogyne, Goeldi, 1887. Nematologica, 3, 205–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, C. H. (1950). Quinone tanning in the animal kingdom. Nature, Lond., 165, 275.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chitwood, B. G. (1938). Further studies on nemic skeletoids and their significance in the chemical control of nemic pests. Proc. helm. Soc. Wash. 5, 6875.Google Scholar
Christenson, R. O. (1950). Nemic ova. In An Introduction to Nematology. Ed. Chitwood, B. G.. Baltimore: Monumental Printing Co.Google Scholar
Crites, J. L. (1958). The chemistry of the membranes of the egg envelope of Cruzia americana Maplestone, 1930. Ohio J. Sci. 58, 343–6.Google Scholar
Dalgliesh, C. E. (1955). Non-specific formation of hydroxylated metabolites of the aromatic amino acids. Archs Biochem. Biophys. 58, 214–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dennell, R. (1946). A study of an insect cuticle: the larval cuticle of Sarcophaga faculata Pand. (Diptera). Proc. roy. Soc. B, 133, 348–73.Google ScholarPubMed
Dennell, R. (1958). The amino-acid metabolism of a developing insect cuticle: the larval cuticle and puparium of Calliphora vomitoria. II. The non-specific hydroxylation of aromatic amino-acids and the production of polyphenols by the cuticle. Proc. roy. Soc. B, 148, 280–4.Google ScholarPubMed
Dennell, R. & Malek, S. R. A. (1955 a). The cuticle of the cockroach Periplaneta americana. III. The hardening of the cuticle: impregnation preparatory to phenolic tanning. Proc. roy Soc. B, 143, 414–26.Google Scholar
Dennell, R. & Malek, S. R. A. (1955 b). The cuticle of the cockroach Periplaneta americana. IV. The hardening of the cuticle: phenolic tanning. Proc. roy Soc. B, 143, 427–34.Google Scholar
Dixon, M. & Webb, E. C. (1960). Enzymes. 5th Impression. London: Longmans.Google Scholar
Ellenby, C. (1963). Masked polyphenols in the cuticle of a cyst forming nematode. Experientia, 19, 256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erickson, R. O., Sax, K. O. & Ogur, M. (1949). Perchloric acid in the cytochemistry of Pentose Nucleic Acid. Science, 110, 472–3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fairbairn, D. (1957). The biochemistry of Ascaris. Expl Parasit. 6, 491554.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fauré-Frémiet, E. (1913). Le cycle germinatif chez l'Ascaris megalocephala. Archs Anat. microsc. 15, 435758.Google Scholar
Fauré-Frémiet, E., Ebel, J. P. & Colas, J. (1954). Les inclusions proteiques de lœuf de Parascaris equorum. Expl Cell Res. 7, 153–68.Google Scholar
Fouquey, C., Lederer, E., Lüderitz, O., Polonsky, J., Staub, A., Stirm, S., Tinelli, R. & Westphal, O. (1958). Synthéses de 3,6-didesoxy-hexoses; determination de la structure des sucres naturels: abequose, colitose, tyvelose et ascarylose. C. r. hebd. Séanc. Acad. Sci., Paris, 246, 2417–20.Google Scholar
Hackmann, R. H. (1955). Studies on chitin. II. Reactions of N-acetyl glucosamine with α-amino-acids, peptides and proteins. Aust. J. biol. Sci. 8, 8396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hackmann, R. H. (1958). Biochemistry of the insect cuticle. In Proc. 4th Int. Congr. Biochem. Vienna, 1958, 12, 4857.Google Scholar
Hackmann, R. H. & Goldberg, M. (1958). Proteins of the larval cuticle of Agrianome spinicollis (Coleoptera). J. Insect Physiol. 2, 221–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobs, L. (1950). Nemic ova: the chemistry of the egg membranes. In An Introduction to Nematology. Ed. Chitwood, B. G.. Baltimore: Monumental Printing Co.Google Scholar
Jacobs, L. & Jones, M. F. (1939). Studies on oxyuriasis. XXI. The chemistry of the membranes of the pinworm egg. Proc. helm. Soc. Wash. 6, 5760.Google Scholar
Jaskoski, B. J. (1962). Paper chromatography of some fractions of Ascaris suum eggs. Expl Parasit. 12, 1924.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johri, L. N. & Smyth, J. D. (1956). A histochemical approach to the study of helminth morphology. Parasitology, 46, 107–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keilin, D., & Mann, T. (1938). Polyphenol oxidase. Purification, nature and properties. Proc. roy. Soc. B, 125, 187204.Google Scholar
Kennaugh, J. (1958). Amino-acid metabolism, polyphenol production and the process of tanning in the cockroach Periplaneta americana. J. Insect Physiol. 2, 97107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kreuzer, L. (1953). Zur kenntnis des chemischen aufbaus der eihülle von Ascaris lumbricoides. Z. vergl. Physiol. 35, 1326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lison, L. (1953). Histochemie et Cytochimie Animates, Principes et Methodes, 2eme edn. Paris: Gauthier-Villars.Google Scholar
Mason, H. S. (1958). In discussion on Dr Hackmann's paper in Proc. 4th Int. Congr. Biochem., Vienna, 1958, 12, 5862.Google Scholar
Monné, L. (1955). On the nature of the gram basophilia. Ark. Zool. (Ser. 2), 7, 559–72.Google Scholar
Monné, L. (1959). On the formation of the egg envelopes and the early development of the lungworms Dictyocaulus viviparus, D. filaria and Metastrongylus elongatus. Ark. Zool. (Ser. 2), 12, 99122.Google Scholar
Monné, L. (1962). On the formation of the egg-shells of the Ascaroidea, particularly Toxascaris leonina Linst. Ark. Zool. (Ser. 2), 15, 277–84.Google Scholar
Monné, L. & Hönig, G. (1954). On the properties of the egg envelopes of the parasitic nematodes Trichuris and Capillaria. Ark. Zool. (Ser. 2), 6, 559–62.Google Scholar
Pearse, A. G. E. (1960). Histochemistry: Theoretical and Applied. London: J. and A. Churchill.Google Scholar
Pihl, A. & Eldjarn, L. (1958). The formation and biological role of mixed disulphides. Proc.4th Int. Congr. Biochem., Vienna, 1958, 13, 4362.Google Scholar
Pryor, M. G. M. (1940). On the hardening of the cuticle of insects. Proc. roy. Soc. B, 128, 393407.Google Scholar
Pryor, M. G. M., Russell, P. B. & Todd, A. R. (1947). Phenolic substances concerned in hardening the insect cuticle. Nature, Lond., 159, 399.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rogers, R. A. (1956). A study of eggs of Ascaris lumbricoides var. suum with the electron microscope. J. Parasit. 42, 97108.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rogers, W. P. (1962). The Nature of Parasitism. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Schatz, L. (1952). The development and differentiation of arthropod cuticle: staining. Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 45, 678–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seurat, L. G. (1920). Histoire naturelle des nematodes de la Barbiere. Université d'Alger: Publ. de la faculté des sciences.Google Scholar
Smith, I. (1960). Chromatographic and Electrophoretic Techniques, vol. 2. London: W. Heinemann Ltd.Google Scholar
Smyth, J. D. (1954). A technique for the histochemical demonstration of polyphenol oxidase and its application to egg-shell formation in helminths and byssus formation in Mytilus. Quart. J. micr. Sci. 95, 139–52.Google Scholar
Smyth, J. D. & Hopkins, C. A. (1948). Esterwax as a medium for embedding tissue for histological demonstration of glycogen. Quart. J. micr. Sci. 89, 431–6.Google Scholar
Tracey, M. V. (1955). Chitin. In Modern Methods of Plant Analysis. Ed. Peach, K. and Tracey, M. V.. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Wharton, L. D. (1915). The development of the eggs of Ascaris lumbricoides. Philipp. J. Sci. B, 10, 1923.Google Scholar
Wigglesworth, V. B. (1948). The insect cuticle. Biol. Rev. 23, 408–51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wigglesworth, V. B. (1959). A simple method for cutting sections in the 0·5μ to 1μ range and for sections of chitin. Quart. J. micr. Sci. 100, 315–20.Google Scholar
Wottge, K. (1937). Die stoffliche veränderungen in der Eizelle von Ascaris megalocephala nach der Berfruchtung. Protoplasma, 29, 3159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yanagisawa, T. (1955). Structure and formation process of the egg-shell of Ascaris ova. Jap. J. med. Sci. Biol. 8, 379–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed