珊瑚和珊瑚的骨骼

珊瑚不同于水螅类和水母类,它们只有水螅型,而无水母型。珊瑚除少数单体外,大多数都形成大小不等的群体。组成群体的每一个体称珊瑚虫,虫体如一水螅,顶端具口,周围有触手。口下连口道,通入消化腔,腔内具有复杂的隔膜,隔膜为体壁的内胚层向内突起形成,其上有肌肉,还可发生生殖腺。群体中所有珊瑚虫的消化腔为共肉相连通。珊瑚类根据它们的触手和隔膜的数目不同,可分为三类:即四放珊瑚(Tetracorallia)、八放珊瑚(Octocorallia)和六放珊瑚(Hexa-corallia)。四放珊瑚全为化石种类,早在奥陶纪就出现,至二叠纪绝灭。为单体珊瑚,其触手及隔膜的数目均为4或4的倍数。     

观察水螅刺细胞和刺丝囊方法的改进

水螅的触手上分布着大量的用以捕获食物的刺细胞。用吸管吸取小型的枝角类或桡足类1个,或切成小段的小丝蚓吹到水螅触手上。可见水螅触手抓住挣扎的小动物(或一小段水丝蚓),直到不挣扎,经口送入消化腔内,证明触手上有捕获动物的刺细胞存在。水螅1次捕食要消耗1／4的刺细胞并在48h内     

变形虫对水螅的危害及防治初探

在培养实验水螅的身体上,发现了危害水螅生命的变形虫(Am oeba!sp.)。这种变形虫依附于水螅的触手及体壁上,以触手上为多。水螅被变形虫危害的初期,表现为身体伸展不充分,触手收缩成一团小棒状,在水螅附着处周围有散落的破碎的组织颗粒。变形虫分裂速度较快,如上述的“病”水螅,不能及时给予“治疗”、杀灭变形虫,水螅群体则在10￣15h内大量死亡,死亡率高达95%以上。我们实验室内培养的强壮水螅(H ydra robusta)、大庆水螅(H.daqingensis)和绿水螅(Chlorohydra)曾先后被该种变形虫侵害,死亡率都极高。为了清除依附在水螅触手和体壁上的变…     

水螅的摄食与生殖

水螅是一类只有散漫神经 (神经网 ) ,结构简单 ,在淡水中固着生活 ,体呈圆柱形的动物。在水螅的摄食和生殖等方面笔者观察到一些有趣的现象 (见本期封四彩色照片 ) ,现做简要介绍。1　摄食和消化水螅喜食水蚤、剑水蚤和小型的环节动物。水螅捕食没有数量选择。当游动的 1个或几个水蚤撞到水螅任一触手或几条触手时 ,触手上密布的具有捕食和防御功能的 4种刺丝囊同时放射刺丝 ,将其抓住、麻醉、杀死。同时受刺激的散漫神经引起水螅全身的收缩 ,触手和躯体已缩成一团 ,此时 ,如又一被捕获物撞到收缩的触手上 ,剩余的刺丝囊能够继续放射刺丝 ,…     

水螅畸形触手转分化过程的观察

水螅胃区诱导出的触手芽，１４天后在茎区诱导体柱组织分化头结构。胃区诱导出的畸形触手芽，８天后在出芽区脱落，在母体上留下一个基盘，脱落的畸形触手呈２触手水螅个体，其直径相当于头部触手直径的２／３。在人工帮助下能吞食１个未分化的蚤状卵。第１２天能自行捕食幼。最后对２种额外触手芽的不同演化结果做了简单比较。     

水螅的畸形触手及其形成原因

正常水螅(Hydra)的触手没有分枝,但在2触手合并过程中有暂时的分枝现象。对于多分枝或呈环形的畸形触手以及引起畸形的原因,目前尚未见报道。笔者于1990年10月观察到1个畸形触手的水螅,为探明其产生原因,进行了一些实验,现将结果报道如下。(一)材料和方法实验用水螅均采自安徽     

水螅异常极性体轴的形成及矫正进程的观察

目的:如何建立和维持体轴是一个基本的发育生物学问题,而淡水水螅是适合进行形态发生和个体发育调控机制研究的重要模式生物。本文观察了大乳头水螅异常极性体轴的形成及矫正进程,初步探讨水螅极性体轴的维持和调控机制。方法:先切取水螅的整个头部,再获得带二根触手的口区组织。通过ABTS细胞化学染色法检测水螅基盘分子标志物过氧化物酶的表达,判别水螅基盘组织(水螅足区的末端)是否形成。结果:从40块口区组织再生得到的水螅个体中有1例极性体轴发育异常的个体,其身体两端均发育成头区,且两端的头区均具有捕食能力。随后水螅其中一端头区的触手逐渐萎缩、退化,最终该端头区转化成具有吸附能力的基盘组织。结论:水螅组织的再生涉及极性体轴的重建,而一些特殊因素可能造成临时性的水螅极性体轴调控紊乱。本研究表明水螅具备自我矫正异常极性体轴的能力。另外,本研究结果显示水螅触手可以萎缩直至退化,该现象涉及的细胞学过程可能是非常复杂的,有可能涉及到触手细胞的凋亡转化过程,也可能是触手的高度分化细胞仍然具备去分化能力、去分化后再转移到身体其他地方,其具体机制值得进一步探究。     

水螅的触手数

每种水螅都有一定的触手数。但是,在不同的条件下,同一种水螅,甚至同一个水螅触手数变化也很大。由于水螅的触手数常用来作为再生及成形素(morphogen)作用的指标,水螅触手数的研究已引起了广泛的注意。作者观察了在室温下培养的合肥近郊采得的一种水螅不同季节及在一些实验条件下触手数目的变化。     

获取伸展状态水螅标本的方法

获取伸展状态水螅标本的方法用滴管吸取若干条水螅和少量的水（宜在３ｍｌ以下）置于５０ｍｌ小烧杯中，静待水螅身体及其触手呈伸展状态时，将预先配好的２０ｍｌ丙酮溶液（１６ｍｌ丙酮与４ｍｌ水混合而成）快速倒入，水螅即刻被固定在伸展状态，然后用滴管吸取水螅转移...     

水螅的萎缩现象及处理方法

水螅的萎缩现象及处理方法王精明（广东省惠州大学生物系,５１６０１５）在培养水螅过程中,有时会出现水螅萎缩现象,即水螅停止摄食、触手变短乃至消失、全体缩成一团、最后分解死亡。出现这种现象的主要原因有以下几个方面。（１）温度过高。当培养水温超过３０℃时,...     

The Mechanism of Food Intake in Tokophrya infusionum and Ultrastructural Changes in Food Vacuoles during Digestion*

SYNOPSIS Food intake in Tokophrya infusionum is preceded by penetration of the knob of the tentacle into the cytoplasm of the prey, Tetrahymena. Immediately thereafter, the membrane of the knob starts to invaginate into the lumen of the inner tube of the tentacle carrying with it the cytoplasm of the prey. At the proximal end of the tentacle, the invaginating membrane inflates, pinches off and forms a food vacuole. The mechanism is similar to that in amoebae during pinocytosis. The first few food vacuoles contain broken-up membranes, an indication that predigestion of prey cytoplasm takes place. This process is limited, however, to the part of cytoplasm around the knob since all food vacuoles formed later are composed of intact cytoplasmic organelles of Tetrahymena. Among them the most abundant and at the same time the most resistant to digestion are mitochondria and mucocysts. The ultrastructure of mitochondria is preserved very well during processing for electron microscopy and changes in their fine structure therefore serve conveniently as markers of the stage of digestion and of the age of food vacuoles. Digestion of mitochondria progresses over a period of several hours. They finally seem to degrade into glycogen-like particles. All components of the food vacuole reach this stage much earlier. Digestion proceeds further until the food vacuole is filled with a watery content of very low density. Digestion in such food vacuoles is completed. The complete digestion of the content of food vacuoles is of primary importance for Tokophrya, since this organism does not have a cytopyge thru which waste products could be eliminated.     

Notch-signalling is required for head regeneration and tentacle patterning in Hydra

Local self-activation and long ranging inhibition provide a mechanism for setting up organising regions as signalling centres for the development of structures in the surrounding tissue. The adult hydra hypostome functions as head organiser. After hydra head removal it is newly formed and complete heads can be regenerated. The molecular components of this organising region involve Wnt-signalling and β-catenin. However, it is not known how correct patterning of hypostome and tentacles are achieved in the hydra head and whether other signals in addition to HyWnt3 are needed for re-establishing the new organiser after head removal. Here we show that Notch-signalling is required for re-establishing the organiser during regeneration and that this is due to its role in restricting tentacle activation. Blocking Notch-signalling leads to the formation of irregular head structures characterised by excess tentacle tissue and aberrant expression of genes that mark the tentacle boundaries. This indicates a role for Notch-signalling in defining the tentacle pattern in the hydra head. Moreover, lateral inhibition by HvNotch and its target HyHes are required for head regeneration and without this the formation of the β-catenin/Wnt dependent head organiser is impaired. Work on prebilaterian model organisms has shown that the Wnt-pathway is important for setting up signalling centres for axial patterning in early multicellular animals. Our data suggest that the integration of Wnt-signalling with Notch-Delta activity was also involved in the evolution of defined body plans in animals.     

Suspension-feeding mechanisms of the armoured sea cucumber Psolus chitinoides Clark

The armoured sea cucumber Psolus chitinoides Clark feeds on suspended particulate matter by means of tentacle ensnarement and the adhesive papillae of the tentacle buds. The latter provide the only ‘sticky’ surface on the feeding tentacles. Electron microscope preparations of the tentacle tips show the adhesive papillae to be comprised of both stout, warty papillary cells which appear to secrete the adhesive material used in the capture of food, and slender, uniciliated cells which may function to disengage food from the tentacle papillae during ingestion. Tentacular response to olfactory and mechanical stimuli together with ultrastructural evidence indicate that the papular cells may also function in a sensory capacity.     

MACROALGAE SURVIVE DIGESTION BY FISHES1

Small individuals (<15 cm long) of the clingfish Sicyases sanguineus consume as many as 18 seaweed species in Central Chile. Enteromorpha sp. was the only species able to survive digestion by fish recently collected from the field. Enteromorpha compressa and Gelidium chilense also survived by tissue regeneration when offered as food in the laboratory, but only E. compressa showed stimulation of swarmer production. In general, our results on a vertebrate species reproduce previous findings on diverse invertebrate species. Since fish are highly motile, their capacity to disperse algal species by defecation might be of great ecological importance.     

Motor control: the importance of stiffness

An octopus brings food grasped by a tentacle to its mouth by bending the tentacle around a joint formed by stiffened distal and proximal tentacle muscles, and thus may use motor control strategies analogous to those in animals with articulated limbs.     

Formation of pattern in regenerating tissue pieces of Hydra attenuata: II. Degree of proportion regulation is less in the hypostome and tentacle zone than in the tentacles and basal disc

The relative sizes of the various structures in Hydra attenuata were compared over a broad range of animal sizes to determine in detail the ability to regulate proportions during regeneration. The three components of the head, namely hypostome, tentacles, and tentacle zone from which the tentacles emerge, the body column, and the basal disc were all measured separately. Ectodermal cell number was used as the measure of size. The results showed that the basal disc proportioned exactly over a 40-fold size range, and the tentacle tissue proportioned exactly over a 20-fold size range. In contrast, the hypostome and tentacle zone proportioned allometrically. With decreasing size, the hypostome and tentacle zone became an increasing fraction of the animal at the expense of body tissue, and in the very smallest regenerates at the expense of tentacle tissue. In their current form, the reaction-diffusion models proposed for pattern regulation in hydra are not consistent with the data.     

Digestion in the peritrich ciliateOphrydium versatile

Summary Digestion in the peritrich ciliateOphrydium versatile O.F.M. involves a complex sequence of intracytotic and exocytotic membrane fusion and recycling events. Food particulates are concentrated in the lower cytopharynx which forms a fusiform-shaped food vacuole. Upon release from the cytopharynx, this food vacuole begins to condense, concentrating the food particulates. Excess membrane is removed intracytotically. These released membranes pieces form discoidal vesicles which are recycled to the base of the cytopharynx, thus providing additional membrane for subsequent food vacuole formation. In the condensed food vacuole, digestion proceeds; hydrolytic enzymes are delivered to the food vacuole via rough endoplasmic reticulum and/or by the cup-shaped coated vesicles (CSCV). As these vesicles fuse with the food vacuole, the food vacuole enlarges, digestion proceeds and an electron-dense membrane coat appears along the luminal surface of the food vacuole. Prior to defecation, the food vacuole undergoes a final condensation; irregularly-shaped, electron dense, single-membrane bound vesicles are cut-off intracytotically from the old food vacuole. These vesicles undergo condensation and invagination to form the cup-shaped coated vesicles (CSCV) which fuse with younger food vacuoles.     

Feeding and wounding responses in Hydra suggest functional and structural polarization of the tentacle nervous system

The nervous system of Hydra, a freshwater cnidaria, occurs as dispersed, or diffuse, nerve net throughout the animal. It is widely accepted that in a diffuse nervous system an external stimulus is conducted in all directions over the net. Here I report observations that hydra tentacles respond to feeding and wounding stimuli in a unidirectional manner. Upon contact of a tentacle with a brine shrimp larva during feeding, tissue on the proximal side of the point of contact contracted strongly, whereas tissue on the distal side contracted only very weakly. Feeding a tentacle to which a second tentacle was grafted to the proximal end in the reversed orientation showed that unidirectional conduction, once initiated, was blocked by the reversal of polarity, demonstrating that the distal to proximal polarity of tissue is crucial for unidirectional conduction. Unidirectional conduction was obtained also by mechanically pinching the tissue. The response of tentacles devoid of neurons examined was bidirectional, demonstrating that the nervous system is responsible for the unidirectional responses. These observations suggest that polarized property of the nerve net in hydra tentacles is responsible for the unidirectional tentacle contraction.     

Olfactory experience modifies the effect of odour on feeding behaviour in a goal-related manner

Natural food odours elicit different behavioural responses in snails. The tentacle carries an olfactory organ, and it either protracts toward a stimulating carrot odour or retraces in a startle-like fashion away from a cucumber odour. The tentacle retraction to cucumber was still present after the snails were fed cucumber during inter-trial periods. Also, snails without any food experience displayed a longer latency to the first bite of cucumber than of carrot and rejected cucumber more often. After tasting these foods, the latency to carrot was not affected while the latency to and number of rejections of cucumber decreased. These results suggest that initial repulsive features of food odour can be only partially compensated by olfactory learning and feeding experience. In the present study, we demonstrated that an invertebrate can be repulsed or attracted by the same natural odour at the same time and that these behavioural responses are likely aimed at achieving different physiologically relevant goals.     

Brachiopod tentacles: Ultrastructure and functional significance of the connective tissue and myoepithelial cells in Terebratalia

Summary The fine structure of the tentacles of the articulate brachiopod Terebratalia transversa has been studied by light and electron microscopy. The epidermis consists of a simple epithelium that is ciliated in frontal and paired latero-frontal or latero-abfrontal longitudinal tracts. Bundles of unsheathed nerve fibers extend longitudinally between the bases of the frontal epidermal cells and appear to end on the connective tissue cylinder; no myoneural junctions were found. The acellular connective tissue cylinder in each tentacle is composed of orthogonal arrays of collagen fibrils embedded in an amorphous matrix. Baffles of parallel crimped collagen fibrils traverse the connective tissue cylinder in regions where it buckles during flexion of the tentacle.The tentacular peritoneum consists of four cell types: 1) common peritoneal cells that line the lateral walls of the coelomic canal, 2) striated and 3) smooth myoepithelial cells that extend along the frontal and abfrontal sides of the coelomic canal, and 4) squamous smooth myoepithelial cells that comprise the tentacular blood channel.Experimental manipulations of a tentacle indicate that its movements are effected by the interaction of the tentacular contractile apparatus and the resilience of the supportive connective tissue cylinder. The frontal contractile bundle is composed of a central group of striated fibers and two lateral groups of smooth fibers which function to flex the tentacle and to hold it down, respectively. The small abfrontal group of smooth myoepithelial cells effects the re-extension of the tentacle, in conjunction with the passive resiliency of the connective tissue cylinder and the concomitant relaxation of the frontal contractile bundle.The authors wish to express their appreciation to Professor Robert L. Fernald for his advice and encouragement throughout the course of this study. Some of the work was conducted at the Friday Harbor Laboratories of the University of Washington. The authors are indebted to the Director, Professor A.O.D. Willows, for use of the facilities. Part of this study was supported by NIH Developmental Biology Training Grant No. 5-T01-HD00266 and NSF grant BMS 7507689