Auslösung von Elementarprozessen durch einzelne Lichtquanten im Fliegenauge

Summary Light quanta impinging upon the photopigments located in the rhabdomeric receptor structures of the fly's compound eyes trigger photochemical reactions which in turn elicit miniature receptor potentials (bumps). The paper mainly deals with the problem whether a single quantum of light is sufficient, or whether a coincidence of quanta and/or elementary photochemical events is necessary to trigger a miniature receptor potential.The experiments were based on tests of the optomotor responses of fixed flying flies suspended in a rotating patterned cylinder with periodic distributions of inner surface brightness. The tests were made under two different light programs: 1) Illumination constant in time 2) Illumination by periodic light pulse sequences with various frequencies. Average light fluxes absorbed by the receptors were equal in both programs. Theoretical considerations lead to the following conclusions: The strength of the optomotor responses to the light programs 1 and 2 should not differ from each other in the case of single quantum processes. However for multiquantum processes light program 2 should be more effective than light program 1 as it favours the coincidence of quantum absorptions per unit time. But these theoretical conclusions are valid only if two conditions are fulfilled in the experiments: a) The pulse frequency of light program 2 has to be kept below a certain limit which is determined by the kinetics of the photochemical systems. Otherwise light program 2 gets averaged in time and in principle can be not more effective than light program 1. b) The rates of quanta absorbed by the receptors have to be kept low enough to guarantee that the concentration of unbleached pigment molecules remains practically unchanged as compared with the concentration in darkness. Accordingly the test experiments were carried out with light pulse frequencies ranging from 500 to 1/120 cycles per second. Intensities were used which corresponded to an average quantum flux effective for one rhabdomeric structure ranging between 10 and 250 quanta per second.The interpretation of the experimental results is in accordance with the hypothesis that one single quantum of light is sufficient to trigger an elementary photochemical reaction and that in turn one single photochemical event can elicit a miniature receptor potential. At present time the experiments do not allow conclusions about the possible occurrence of coincidence-functions of synapses at the level of the first optical ganglion which receive their information via fibers leading off from the receptors.In one of the appendices of the paper, the transinformation flux into a receptor is calculated, taking into consideration the Poisson noise of the quanta disrupting the signal at extremely low quantum rates.

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Ein Teil der in dieser Arbeit abgedruckten Ergebnisse wurde bereits in zwei vorläufigen Mitteilungen publiziert, Reichardt (1965, 1966).     

Der Einflu\ des Schirmpigmentgehalts auf die Helligkeits- und Kontrastwahrnehmung bei Drosophila-Augenmutanten

Summary The function of the facet-separating pigments in the compound eyes of the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster with hypernormal (se), normal (+), subnormal (w^a), and missing (w) pigmentation was studied by investigation of: (1) the in-flight optomotor responses to movement of striped patterns with a mean brightness of 300 cd/m², and (2) the retinal action potentials evoked by flashes in a program of .0003 cd/m² average brightness. The pigment deficient mutants (w ^a, w) are less sensitive to the pattern contrast in the bright adapted state, and more sensitive to the flash intensity in the dark adapted state than either the wild-type (+) or the overpigmented mutant(se). These differences are complementary and can be explained by the increased translucency of the pigment cells. Thus the photoreceptors in the equally illuminated eyes of the normal and mutant animals +, se, w ^a, and w are expected to receive light in a ratio of about 11719. However the sensitivity of the receptors as well as the half-peak widths and the density of their visual fields are apparently independent of the eye pigmentation and seem to be equal at common levels of adaptation. The effects of omnidirectional excess light reaching the receptors of the pigment deficient mutants can be simulated in less translucent eyes: when certain amounts of background illumination were combined with the optomotor stimulus in the visual fields of the wild-type receptors it was possible to elicit the predicted mutant behavior.

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Der Kurvenverlauf stimmt qualitativ mit der Lichtempfindlichkeitsverteilung überein, die Washizu, Burkhardt und Streck (1964) aus den Belichtungspotentialen einzelner Sehzellen in den Rasterelementen vergleichbarer Calliphora-Rassen ermittelt haben.Die vorliegende Arbeit ist durch die anregenden Diskussionen mit Prof. W. Reichardt sehr gefördert worden. Dipl.-Physiker H. Wenking verdanken wir die Entwicklung der Meßverstärker, Werkstattleiter H. Braun und seinen Mitarbeitern die sorgfältige Ausführung der feinmechanischen Arbeiten, Herrn E. Freiberg die Anfertigung der Abbildungen und Frl. I. Geiss die Bearbeitung des Textes.     

Optomotorische Untersuchungen am visuellen System der Stubenfliege Musca domestica L

The compound eye of the housefly Musca domestica L. contains two different types of receptors. The visual acuity of the eye is determined by the divergence angle Δ? between the optical axes of neighbouring ommatidia. Δ? and its dependence on the mean pattern brightness is determined by an evaluation of the optomotor responses elicited from various test patterns. Based on the assumption that the visual fields of both types of receptors approximate the shape of a spatial Gaussian distribution they can be characterized by their half-width, designated as the acceptance angle ΔQ. The contrast transfer from the optical environment onto the receptor cells is limited by ΔQ. It is shown experimentally that ΔQ depends on the mean environmental brightness. The characteristic values Δ? and ΔQ constitute the limiting factors for the light flux received by the receptors. The light flux Φ exciting the receptor cells is proportional to (ΔQ·Δ?)². If the product ΔQ·Δ? is kept constant, there exists a certain ratio \(\frac{{\Delta _\rho }}{{\Delta _\varphi }}\) that leads to an optimal combination of both, contrast transfer and resolution. The ratio \(\frac{{\Delta _\rho }}{{\Delta _\varphi }}\) is experimentally determined and compared with the optimal condition. The torque exerted by fixed flying Muscae has been used as a measure of the reaction strength of the optomotor response elicited by the rotation of cylindrical patterns consisting of periodic distributions of surface brightness. The responses were investigated under different spatial wavelengths, contrasts, contrast frequencies and mean pattern brightness. Detailed results are:

1. The visual acuity (optical resolution power) of the compound eye of Musca is determined by the divergence angle Δ _? between the optical axes of those adjacent ommatidia which are not positioned in the same horizontally oriented row but — closer together — in neighboured rows.
2. Δ? and consequently also the visual acuity do not depend on the mean environmental brightness.
3. The acceptance angle ΔQ changes with the mean brightness of the environment. According to experimental conditions only the minimal acceptance angle Δ _min can be experimentally determined. Δ _min decreases with increasing mean pattern brightness from 3.6°–4.1° to 1.7°.
4. The decrease of ΔQ _min with increasing mean pattern brightness is not caused by a change of the acceptance angles of single receptors. The present tentative explanation is that the centrally located receptors No. 7 and 8 are participating in the uptake of relevant visual information at a critical brightness level.
5. Near the optomotor threshold the large acceptance angle ΔQ _min=3.6° at very dim light would thus be associated with the receptors No. 1 to 6, whereas the smaller acceptance angle ΔQ _min=1.7° with the receptors No. 7 and 8.
6. Due to a sample spacing of Δ?=2°, the acceptance angles of neighbouring receptors No. 1 to 6 show a considerable overlap.
7. Based on anatomical data, the difference in absolute light sensitivity for both receptor systems is calculated. It is predicted that the absorption rate of light quanta in the less sensitive system of the receptors No. 7 and 8 should be reduced by a factor of 24–48 compared to the more sensitive system of the receptors No. 1 to 6. This factor nicely meets the experimentally determined brightness thresholds of both receptor systems.
8. The optimal condition \(\frac{{\Delta _\rho }}{{\Delta _\varphi }}\) is nearly fulfilled by the receptor system No. 7 and 8 of Musca. The experimentally determined ratio amounts to \(\frac{{\Delta _\rho }}{{\Delta _\varphi }}\) =0.83. For the receptor system No. 1 to 6 one finds \(\frac{{\Delta _\rho }}{{\Delta _\varphi }}\) =1.86; in that system the transfer of spatial wavelengths is mainly limited by the reduced contrast transfer which drops to low values before the optical resolution limit is reached.
9. Based on the hypothesis that movement perception of the fly Musca is due to a correlation of sensory data one would expect an optomotor peak reaction at a spatial wavelength of λ _max=8° and a decrease of the optomotor response towards longer spatial wavelengths. The experimental data are in conflict with these predictions. The present notion is that the absence of the expected reaction decrease is not likely to be caused by a saturation effect in the reaction but rather is explainable in terms of a receptor system consisting of larger numbers of receptor types No. 1 to 6 whose excitations being summed before a correlation evaluation takes place.

     

The quantal content of optomotor stimuli and the electrical responses of receptors in the compound eye of the fly Musca

Summary Physical measurements of the energy content of effective optomotor stimuli for the fly Musca support the notion that single light quanta trapped by the photopigment of the retinal receptors generate adequate sensory messages. The results of an electrophysiological experiment on single retinula cells in the fly's eye are presented to strengthen confidence in certain assumptions it was necessary to adopt with regard to receptor optical and spectral properties in order to calibrate the complex movement stimuli. This experiment also emphasizes the small amplitude of electrical signals generated in the receptors by dim but behaviourally effective pattern illumination levels.     

用红外方法对蝇翅视动行为的探索

本文报告了利用红外装置对蝇翅视动行为实验研究的初步结果及其分析:1.在红外探测器探测到的信号中找到了一个能反映蝇翅拍动幅度的参数.2.双侧、单侧刺激域的宽度及刺激域的高度对视动反应发生几率在一定范围内正相关,当超过一阈值(即饱和阈值)后,即出现稳定的视动反应,它们的饱和阈值分别为60°,30°,40°刺激条纹的亮度生有类似情况.刺激条纹的运动速度在一定范围内对视动反应无影响.3.当刺激没有达到饱和时,蝇翅出现断续的典型的视动反应,即“0-1波动反应”.4.单侧条纹由前向后运动时,蝇翅出现典型反应,而条纹从后向前运动时,不出现典型的视动反应或反应很弱.双侧刺激时,条纹向前运动几乎不诱发反应;条纹向后运动诱发明显的蝇翅视动反应,且蝇翅平面的方向在拍动过程中发生变化.     

Vision in the edible snail. The morphology and total electrical activity of the retina]

Recording of the integrative electrical activity of the retina of the snail and electron microscopic study of its eye have shown the following. The electrical activity of the photoreceptors is a source of the retinogram (ERG) of the snail. ERG reaction form is characterized by two phases of a response: the initial spike and the following slow fading. For each given value of the photometric brightness of a light signal there exists a low limit of its length, beginning from which the ERG reaction of the snail assumes the form described. The value of the ERG response is a logarithmic function of brightness of the light stimulus.     

Die Orientierung der Retinulazellen im Auge von Ocypode

Zusammenfassung Im Krabbenauge lassen sich auf Grund verschiedener Orientierung der Retinulazellmuster ein oberer und ein unterer Augenbereich unterscheiden. Die Muster beider Bereiche sind zueinander spiegelsymmetrisch mit einer bei Normalstellung des Auges horizontalen Symmetrieebene. In einem Übergangsbereich, der sich über mehrere Ommatidienreihen erstreckt, kommen beide Muster nebeneinander vor. Eine Spiegelsymmetrie von Retinulazellmustern war bisher nur bei Insekten bekannt. Da sie in gleicher Weise auch bei Crustaceen auftritt, scheint sie Ausdruck eines allgemeinen Bauprinzips des Komplexauges der Insekten und Crustaceen zu sein.

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On the orientation of retinula cells in the eye of ocypode

Summary In the crab eye an upper and a lower region can be discerned which are composed of ommatidia with different orientations of retinula cell patterns. The patterns of both regions are mirror images of each other with a plane of symmetry that is horizontal for eyes in normal position. In a transitional region extending over several rows of ommatidia both patterns are found in neighbouring ommatidia. A mirror image symmetry of retinular patterns was so far only known in insects. Since it occurs in crustacea as well it seems to express a general principle of construction of the compound eye of insects and crustacea.

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Frl. E.-M. Stauch danke ich für die sorgfältige Durchführung der histologischen Arbeiten, Herrn cand. B. C. Boschek für technische Hilfe, Herrn cand. H. Eckert für das Beschaffen von Tieren und Herrn E. Freiberg für das Anfertigen der Zeichnungen.     

Die Sehzellen der Insekten als Analysatoren für Polarisiertes Licht

Summary The response of single photoreceptor cells of the compound eye of Calliphora erythrocephala to the rotation of the plane of polarized light was measured with intracellular capillary electrods. Of 149 cells which were tested, 74 indicated no influence of the direction of polarization. For the remainder of the cells, with a constant position of the electrodes relative to the incidence of light, the plane of polarization to which the response was maximal, varied. This shows that the model suggested by Autrum and Stumpf (1950) for the analysis of polarized light is the correct one. The objections which have been raised against this model are criticized and refuted.

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Mit Unterstützung der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

Sensitivity of the Goldfish Motion Detection System Revealed by Incoherent Random Dot Stimuli: Comparison of Behavioural and Neuronal Data

Background

Global motion detection is one of the most important abilities in the animal kingdom to navigate through a 3-dimensional environment. In the visual system of teleost fish direction-selective neurons in the pretectal area (APT) are most important for global motion detection. As in all other vertebrates these neurons are involved in the control of slow phase eye movements during gaze stabilization. In contrast to mammals cortical pathways that might influence motion detection abilities of the optokinetic system are missing in teleost fish.

Results

To test global motion detection in goldfish we first measured the coherence threshold of random dot patterns to elicit horizontal slow phase eye movements. In addition, the coherence threshold of the optomotor response was determined by the same random dot patterns. In a second approach the coherence threshold to elicit a direction selective response in neurons of the APT was assessed from a neurometric function. Behavioural thresholds and neuronal thresholds to elicit slow phase eye movements were very similar, and ranged between 10% and 20% coherence. In contrast to these low thresholds for the optokinetic reaction and APT neurons the optomotor response could only be elicited by random dot patterns with coherences above 40%.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest a high sensitivity for global motion in the goldfish optokinetic system. Comparison of neuronal and behavioural thresholds implies a nearly one-to-one transformation of visual neuron performance to the visuo-motor output. In addition, we assume that the optomotor response is not mediated by the optokinetic system, but instead by other motion detection systems with higher coherence thresholds.     

Comparison between the movement detection systems underlying the optomotor and the landing response in the housefly

Flies evaluate movement within their visual field in order to control the course of flight and to elicit landing manoeuvres. Although the motor output of the two types of responses is quite different, both systems can be compared with respect to the underlying movement detection systems. For a quantitative comparison, both responses were measured during tethered flight under identical conditions. The stimulus was a sinusoidal periodic pattern of vertical stripes presented bilaterally in the fronto-lateral eye region of the fly. To release the landing response, the pattern was moved on either side from front to back. The latency of the response depends on the stimulus conditions and was measured by means of an infrared light-beam that was interrupted whenever the fly lifted its forelegs to assume a preprogrammed landing posture (Borst and Bahde 1986). As an optomotor stimulus the pattern moved on one side from front to back and on the other side in the opposite direction. The induced turning tendency was measured by a torque meter (Götz 1964). The response values which will be compared are the inverse latencies of the landing response and the amplitude of the yaw torque.

1. Optomotor course-control is more sensitive to pattern movement at small spatial wavelengths (10° and 20°) than the landing response (Fig. 1a and b). This suggests that elementary movement detectors (EMDs, Buchner 1976) with large detection base (the distance between interacting visual elements) contribute more strongly to the landing than to the optomotor system.
2. The optimum contrast frequencies of the different responses obtained at a comparatively high pattern contrast of about 0.6 was found to be between 1 and 10 Hz for the optomotor response, and around 20 Hz for the landing response (Fig. 2a and b). This discrepancy can be explained by the fact that the optomotor response was tested under stationary conditions (several seconds of stimulation) while for the landing response transient response characteristics of the movement detectors have to be taken into account (landing occurs under these conditions within less than 100 ms after onset of the movement stimulus). To test the landing system under more stationary conditions, the pattern contrast had to be reduced to low values. This led to latencies of several seconds. Then the optimum of the landing response is around 4 Hz. This is in the optimum range of the optomotor course-control response. The result suggests the same filter time constants for the movement detectors of both systems.
3. The dependence of both responses on the position and the size of the pattern was examined. The landing response has its optimum sensitivity more ventrally than the optomotor response (Fig. 3a and b). Both response amplitudes increase with the size of the pattern in a similar progression (Fig. 3c and d).

In first approximation, the present results are compatible with the assumption of a common set of movement detectors for both the optomotor course-control and the landing system. Movement detectors with different sampling bases and at different positions in the visual field seem to contribute with different gain to both responses. Accordingly, the control systems underlying both behaviors are likely to be independent already at the level of spatial integration of the detector output.     

Ein direkter Beweis für die Fähigkeit einzelner Sehzellen des Insektenauges,die Schwingungsrichtung polarisierten Lichtes zu analysieren

Summary Action potentials from single visual cells of the compound eye are lead off during illumination of the retina of Calliphora erythrocephala by means of intracellular capillary microelectrodes. The size of the monophasic and depolarizing action-potentials depends on light-intensity and on plane of polarized light. Turning the plane of polarization from maximum to minimum efficacy equals a decrease of intensity of about 50%. As the dioptric apparatus is optically isotropic, the experiments described here prove the hypothesis of Autrum and Stumpf, namely that the single visual cell responds to different planes of polarization with different states of excitation.

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Die Untersuchungen wurden von der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft unterstützt.     

Die Chloroplastendrehung beiMougeotia

Summary By means of partial illumination with small spots of monochromatic light, polarized obliquely to the cell axis, we could demonstrate that the phytochrome molecules inMougeotia are oriented in a spiral pattern around the cell surface. The lines of this spiral form an angle of about 45^o with the cell axis. The degree of exactness of this orientation has been discussed.

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Mit 7 Textabbildungen

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Herrn Professor Dr.E. Heitz zum 70. Geburtstag.     

The Optomotor Response in Weak-electric Mormyrid Fish: Can they See?

The present study has explored the optomotor response in two species of mormyrid fish, Gnathonemus petersii and Brienomyrus niger. Both species tended to follow a black and white striped stimulus pattern under illumination levels of 6, 12, and 60 lx. The optomotor response ceased to occur under 540 lx. The behavioral data support earlier histological findings implicating the mormyrid retina in dim light vision.     

Untersuchungen über die lichtabhängige Carotinoidsynthese

Summary In conidia-free submerged cultures of Neurospora crassa the various steps of light-dependend carotenoid synthesis were studied. The mycelium produces small amounts of pigments even in the dark. The data obtained are in part in good agreement with earlier results of Zalokar and show that the light-induced pigment production starts after a lag-period of 40 min and is finished after 6–8 hours; the photoreaction is saturated by relatively small dosages. In contrast to Zalokar's results we found that for photoinduction the reciprocity law holds true. The photoreaction is saturated by a certain amount of light independently of the light-intensity. Actidion (Cycloheximide) inhibits carotenoid synthesis completely when added before or up to 10 min after the onset of illumination, whereas addition 60 min after illumination already has no effect. Comparison with the results obtained with Fusarium shows that the reaction mechanism is very similar in both organisms, though the various steps seem to proceed faster in Neurospora.

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Herrn Prof. Dr. L. Brauner in Verehrung und Dankbarkeit zum 70. Geburtstag gewidmet.     

Fine structure of photoreceptors in larval trematodes

Summary The fine structure of photoreceptors is described in miracidia of Fasciola hepatica, Heronimus chelydrae, Allocreadium lobatum, and Spirorchis sp., and in a spirorchiid cercaria. All have in common eyespots consisting of pigment cells with chambers occupied by rhabdomeres consisting of retinular cell dendrites with numerous microvilli. Photoreceptors of the miracidia show a bilateral asymmetry which is most pronounced in H. chelydrae with a pair of well separated eyespots unequal in size. The smaller right one consists of a pigment cell and two rhabdomeres; the larger left eyespot has an anterior pigment cell with two rhabdomeres and a posterior cell containing one rhabdomere. Photoreceptors in the other species of miracidia also have five rhabdomeres but contain only two pigment cells which are closely apposed. Each contains a pair of lateral rhabdomeres and a fifth one occupies a posteromedian extension of the left pigment cell. In the number of rhabdomeres, their relationship to pigment cells and the resulting asymmetry, photoreceptors are more alike in the distantly related species of miracidia studied than they are in ocellate cercariae or even in the miracidium and cercaria of the same species or two closely related ones. From the asymmetry of photoreceptors in larvae of certain flatworms other than digenetic trematodes, it seems that eyespots of miracidia have retained an ancestral pattern whereas the diversity of photoreceptors in cercariae reflects the varied phototactic behavior of those larvae which complete their life cycles by all the means known for cercariae with a free-swimming period. In both miracidia and cercariae, photoreceptors show an anterior-posterior organization that would seem to be concerned with orientation of the larvae with respect to light.Supported in part by a David Ross Fellowship of the Purdue Research Foundation and in part by U.S.P.H.S. Grants 1T1 GM 1392 01 and 2T1 Al 106 07. We express thanks to Dr. Keith Dixon for aid in obtaining and processing miracidia of Fasciola hepatica; to Prof. Clark P. Read for his valuable comments and suggestions; and to Profs. Charles W. Philpott and Richard H. White for advice concerning electron microscopy.     

A study of the role of sulfhydryl groups in morphogenesis of the chick embryo

Summary The teratogenic effects on chick embryos of chloroacetophenone (CAP), a specific sulfhydryl blocking agent, are known to be reversible by a subsequent treatment with cysteine. However, cysteamine, the decarboxylation product of cysteine has been found to be unable to ameliorate the syndrome caused by CAP. It is suggested that CAP may act by binding the sulfhydryl of free cysteine in the cells of the organizer, thus indicating that cysteine may act as an inducing stimulus in primary organizer action. Post-nodal pieces of chick blastoderm exposed to the action of cysteine for 6 hours show differentiation of axial embryonic structures. Cysteamine has no such stimulatory effects on post-nodal pieces. This finding seems to further support the conclusion that cysteine may act as an inducing stimulus in primary organizer action.

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Zusammenfassung Die teratogenen Effekte von Chloroacetophenon auf Hühnchenembryonen sind bekannterweise reversibel durch Nachbehandlung mit Cystein. CAP ist ein Agens, das Sulphhydrylgruppen blockiert. Cysteamine revertiert die teratogenen Effekte nicht. Es wird vorgeschlagen, da\ CAP die Sulphhydrylgruppen freien Cysteins in den Zellen des Organisators blockiert, was hei\en würde, da\ Cystein ein induzierender Stimulus in der Organisatorwirkung wäre. Wenn post-nodale Stücke von Hühnchenblastoderm während 6 Std der Wirkung von Cystein ausgesetzt werden, entwickeln diese Axialelemente. Cysteamin zeigt diesen Effekt nicht. Diese Resultate stützen die Annahme, da\ Cystein als Induktor im primären Organisator wirken könnte.

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The author is grateful to Prof. B. R.Seshachar for constant encouragement and facilities for work. This work was supported by financial assistance from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India.     

Über den Sekretionsvorgang im Subcommissuralorgan eines Knochenfisches (Pristella riddlei Meek)

Zusammenfassung Die licht- und elektronenmikroskopische Untersuchung des Subcommissuralorgans von Pristella riddlei (Meek), eines Knochenfisches aus der Familie der Characidae, ergab weder sichere Hinweise auf eine Innervation durch den Tractus pinealis, noch konnte ein unmittelbarer Kontakt der sekretorischen Zellen mit dem Blutgefäßsystem festgestellt werden. Das Sekret wird in den 3. Ventrikel abgegeben, wo es den Reissnerschen Faden bildet. An der intracellulären Sekretbereitung sind das rauhe endoplasmatische Reticulum und der Golgi-Apparat beteiligt.

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Summary A light and electron microscopic study of the subcommissural organ of Pristella riddlei Meek (Osteichthys, Characidae) furnished neither evidence for an innervation by the pineal tract, nor for the direct contact of secretory cells with the blood vessel system. The secretory material is released into the third ventricle where it forms Reissner's fibre. The rough endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi apparatus take part in the intracellular production of the secretory material.

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Ausgeführt mit dankenswerter Unterstützung durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

Zur spektralen Empfindlichkeit einzelner Sehzellen der Drohne (Apis mellifica ♂)

Summary Intracellular monophasic action potentials were led off from single photoreceptor cells of the compound eye of the drone bee in response to light of wave lengths varying from 318 to 650 m. Measurements of the heights of the peaks of the depolarising potentials showed the presence of two types of receptors with maxima in the sensitivity curves at 340 m, and 447 m, respectively.The optimal sensivity at 447 m, agrees: with the absorption curve of isolated photopigments of the eye of the bee described by Goldsmith, with that of the maximum color sensitivity of the drone eye in visible light as determined by Goldsmith from the ERG, as well as with the curve of the intensity of radiation of the blue sky.

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Mit Unterstützung der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

Induction of chromosomal breakage in cultured human leucocytes by luteoskyrin

Summary Luteoskyrin, a Polyhydroxy-Bis-Dihydroanthrachinon isolated from Penicillium islandicum Sopp, is known to have strong cytotoxic effects. In long-term cultures of Ehrilich-Ascites-Tumour cells it causes the formation of very long abnormal chromosomes (Schachtschabel). Experiments with short-term cultures of human leucocytes are reported on which have shown Luteoskyrin to induce chromosomal breaks and interchromosomal bridges.

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Zusammenfassung Das Polyhydroxy-Bis-Dihydroanthrachinon Luteoskyrin, ein Stoffwechselprodukt des Schimmelpilzes Penicillium islandicum Sopp, hat eine starke cytotoxische Wirkung. In Langzeitkulturen von Ehrlich-Ascites-Tumorzellen verursacht es die Bildung von abnormal langen Chromosomen (Schachtschabel). Es wird über Versuche mit Kurzzeitkulturen von menschlichen Leukocyten berichtet, in denen durch Luteoskyrin Chromosomenbrüche und interchromosomale Brücken entstehen.

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Supported by a grant from Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Ke 128/1).     

Die histochemische Lokalisation der Phosphatase in der Tubulusepithelzelle der Mäuseniere im elektronenmikroskopischen Bild

Zusammenfassung An der Niere der Albinomaus wurde nach Vorfixierung mit Osmiumtetroxyd eine modifizierte Gomori-Reaktion auf Phosphatasen durchgeführt. Als Fällungsmittel der bei dem Test freigesetzten Orthophosphorsäure wurde ein Bleisalz verwendet. Damit konnte im elektronenmikroskopischen Bild am Enzymort ein feinkörniger Niederschlag mit hohem Kontrast erzielt werden. Als Sitz der beiph 7,6–7,7 wirksamen Phosphatasen konnten die Membran des Bürstensaums und die basalen Einstülpungen der Zellmembran der Tubulusepithelzellen erkannt werden. Enzymatisch aktiv wurden ferner die Zellmembranen der Kapillarendothelien des Tubulus und des Glomerulus sowie die Deckzellfortsätze (Microvilli) des Glomerulus befunden.Das Problem der intrazellulären Lokalisation von Phosphatasen wird diskutiert.

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Summary A modified Gomori-reaction on phosphatases of the albino-mouse kidney was performed. The method of prefixation with osmiumtetroxyde was used. The orthophosphoric acid, liberated in the test and cristallized by lead salt, yielded a fine granulated sediment with a high contrast at the location of enzyme in the electronmicroscopic picture. The phosphatases, active at aph of 7,6–7,7, could be located in the membranes of the brushborder and in the basal invaginations of the membranes of the tubuli cells. Furthermore an enzymatic activity was observed in the membranes of the capillary endothelium cells in the tubulus as well as in the glomerulus and in the microvilli of the glomerulus.Problems resulting from the test for the phosphatase were discussed.

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Mit 17 Textabbildungen

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Mit Unterstützung des Bundes und der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft. Über die Ergebnisse wurde auf der 9. Tagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Elektronenmikroskopie vom 18.–21. 10, 59 in Freiburg i. Br. berichtet.