Direct physical formation of anatomical structures by cell traction forces. An interview with Albert Harris by Lev Beloussov

Albert Harris was educated at The Norfolk Academy, Norfolk, Virginia, USA (1961). He then earned a Batchelor of Arts Degree in Biology from Swarthmore College, in Pennsylvania, USA (1965), followed by a Ph.D. in Biology (1971) from Yale University, where his Dissertation Advisor was the great John Phillip Trinkaus. He held a Damon-Runyon Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cancer Research in 1970-72, under Michael Abercrombie, FRS, at the Strangeways Research Laboratory of Cambridge University, England. Then he accepted a position as Assistant Professor in the Zoology Department of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N.C. USA. In 1977, he was promoted to Associate Professor of Zoology, and in 1983 was promoted to Full Professor of Biology. In Oct.-Nov. 1991 he was honored to be Distinguished Visiting Professor of Zoology at the University of California at Davis.     

On the structure of the XY bivalent in Mus musculus L.

Summary The structure and behavior of XY bivalent in mice is discussed. The view that XY bivalent in pachytene is embedded within the sex vesicle was fully confirmed. X and Y are paired end-to-end by a nonchiasmatic connection, which is established already in pachytene and persists until first meiotic metaphase. The pachytene complement in mice consists of 19 rod-shaped autosomal bivalents and the XY bivalent embedded within the sex vesicle. A satisfactory identification of individual autosomes in male pachytene has not been found possible.This paper is dedicated to Professor L. C. Dunn on the occasion of his retirement as Professor from Columbia University in recognition of his deep humanity as a scientist and a man.Research carried out under a fellowship of the Rockefeller Foundation, and later under fellowship support of the U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare through a training grant to the Department of Zoology, Columbia University. The experiments were supported financially by Contract AT/30-1/1804 with the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission.     

Contribution of late Professor T. C. Tung to the experimental embryology of Amphioxus

Professor T. C. Tung (Fig. 1) was a prominent experimental embryologist in China. He was born in Jin County, Zhejiang Province, China in 1902. After he obtained his Bachelor's degree from the Department of Biology, Fudan University, Shanghai in 1927, he was appointed as a teaching assistant in that department until he moved to Belgium in 1930. He studied as a graduate student in Professors A. Brachet and A. M. Dalcq's laboratory at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium and obtained his Doctor of Science degree there in 1934. During that period, he made two short working visits to the Institute of Marine Biology in France and took one training course at Cambridge University (UK). In 1934, he was invited to return to China as a Full Professor to teach at several Chinese universities, (Shandong University in Qingdao, Shandong Province; the National University in Nanjing; and Fudan University in Shanghai). He spent 1 year at Yale University (USA) between 1948 and 1949 as an invited scientist in a joint research project and finally returned to China in 1949. He was Chairman of the Department of Zoology, Shandong University in Qingdao (1949-1952), Vice-President of Shandong University (1952-1960), Director of the Marine Biological Institute, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Qingdao (1949-1958), Director of the Institute of Oceanology (CAS) in Qingdao (1959-1966), Director of the Institute of Zoology (CAS) in Beijing (1960-1962), member of CAS since 1955, Vice-Chairman of the Biological and Geographical Division of CAS (1955-1958), Chairman of the Biological Division of CAS (1959-1979) and Vice-President of CAS in Beijing (1978-1979). In spite of his administrative duties, he spent most of his life conducting bench work in his laboratories at the Institutes of Oceanology and Zoology, CAS, respectively, until he passed away in March 1979. Professor Tung's main research interest was with classic experimental studies on the determination of the egg axis and symmetry planes of fertilized eggs, early differentiation and organizing substances of egg cytoplasm, induction between embryonic cells and cytoplasm in embryogenesis, immunological studies on nuclear transplanted eggs, and cell fusion etc., in several types of animals. He conducted his experiments on a number of invertebrates (ascidians and Amphioxus) and vertebrates (fish and amphibians) by means of very skillful microsurgical operations and the nuclear transplantation method. Among these topics, his studies on the organization and developmental potency of Amphioxus eggs were unique. His important contribution to this research field involved not only establishing a practical method for collecting and using this rare animal for experimental purposes, but also clarifying controversy about the nature and early development of its eggs. He also provided conclusive evidence to determine its evolutionary position between invertebrates and vertebrates. The present article briefly reviews the main results obtained by Professor Tung and his colleagues on Amphioxus. Although their original articles were written both in Chinese and English, many international readers may not even know those original works because they were only published in scientific journals inside China from the 1950s. Comments and discussion on the experimental results of Amphioxus research by Tung's group and those from other earlier authors are also included.     

The ultrastructure of the sinus gland of Carcinus maenas (Crustacea: Decapoda)

Summary The sinus gland of Carcinus maenas consists of the swollen axonal endings of the neurosecretory cells of the major ganglia and acts as a storage release centre for the membrane bound neurosecretory material. These neurosecretory granules fall into five different types based on size and electron density. Their contents are released by exocytosis of the primary granules or smaller units budded from the primary granules.I thank Professor E. Naylor for his constant advice and Professor E. W. Knight-Jones, Department of Zoology, University College, Swansea, for the provision of laboratory facilities. I am grateful to the Science Research Council for the financial support. Finally, I thank the Electron Microscope Unit, Southampton General Hospital, where the work was completed.     

Reflections on Cellular Physiology as a Catalytic Framework for Medicine

These are the reflections of a retired physician who was introduced to cellular physiology in 1947 at the University of Pennsylvania. I majored in Zoology. I took the required major courses, which were interesting but not exciting. I was a premedical student at the time. Fortunately I was introduced to cellular physiology in 1947. The teacher was Professor Louis Heilbrunn, an amazing man dedicated to teaching and the love of his students. He had a number of graduate students at the time. The undergraduates were well integrated with these advanced students. We used his textbook of physiology and we were all proud of being his students. He gave us a new way of thinking about biology. It was exciting and we were treated as mature students. J. Cell. Physiol. 9999: 2596–2597, 2015. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Cellular Physiology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The juxtaligamental cells of Ophiocomina nigra (Abildgaard) (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) and their possible role in mechano-effector function of collagenous tissue

Summary The intervertebral ligament of the brittlestar Ophiocomina nigra contains numerous cellular processes which belong to perikarya located on the outer surfaces of the ligament. These are described as the juxtaligamental cells and have been studied by light and electron microscopy. The cells are mainly concentrated in four pairs of ganglion-like nodes associated with the intervertebral ligament and in similar nodes adjacent to every other major connective tissue component of the arm. Although their histochemistry and ultrastructure indicate a neurosecretory function, they are anomalous in containing unusually large electron-dense granules probably associated with calcium. The ganglion-like nodes are innervated by hyponeural nerves, though synaptic contacts with the juxtaligamental cells have yet to be demonstrated.The function of the cells is discussed and it is suggested that they may be involved in the rapid loss of tensile strength which the intervertebral ligament sustains during arm autotomy. They may achieve this by controlling the availability of Ca²⁺ ions to the extracellular compartment of the ligament.A version of this paper was read at the U.K.-Eire Echinoderms Colloquium, Bedford College, London, in July 1978This work was conducted mainly at University Marine Biological Station, Millport, during tenure of a N.E.R.C. research studentship. I am grateful to Professor N. Millott for his keen supervision, to Professor D.R. Newth for permission to use the electron microscope in the Department of Zoology, University of Glasgow, where Maureen Gardner provided expert assistance, and to Professor R.M. Kenedi for Facilities in the University of Strathclyde. I have benefited from discussion with J.L.S. Cobb, V.W. Pentreath, and especially A.M. Raymond, University of St. Andrews, who allowed me to mention his unpublished observations.     

Stanislaw Smreczynskis legacy and the Department of Zoology of the Jagiellonian University of Krakow (Poland)

This article covers the origin and development of scientific interest in insect and amphibian developmental biology at the Department of Systematic Zoology and Zoogeography of the Jagiellonian University. The greater part of this historical account is devoted to Professor Stanislaw Smreczynski (1899-1975), the founding father of the Department, and comments on his biography and research achievements in the field of animal experimental embryology. A particular emphasis is on Smreczynski's contributions to contemporary understanding of early embryonic development of amphibians and insects as well as his expertise in Pleistocene and extant weevils (Curculionidae). A concise survey of developmental phenomena studied by some of Smreczynski's co-workers and followers is also presented, including the early embryogenesis of entognathans as well as germ cell determination and gonad formation in Drosophila virilis conducted by Jura; analysis of oogenesis in Collembola carried out by Krzysztofowicz; investigations of insects and tradigrades by Weglarska, and finally research into various aspects of ovary structure in diverse insect taxa by the Bilinski group.     

中国丛毛寄蝇族一新属新种记述（双翅目：寄蝇科）

本文记述寄蝇科丛毛寄蝇族一新属,类梳寄蝇属Ｉｓｏｐｅｘｏｐｓｉｓ ｇｅｎ．ｎｏｖ．一新种,侧颜类梳寄蝇Ｉ．ｐａｒａｆａｃｉａｌｉｓ ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．,并绘制了相应的特征图,模式标本保存于中国科学院动物研究所。     

悼念本刊编委M. S. Mani 教授

Prof.ManiwasbornatTanjorein1910andaafterbrillianteducationalcareer,settledintoavariedprofessionalcareer,mainlyasateacherandguideforhundredsofstudentsofresearchinEntomology,spanningawidevarietyofinstitutessuchasZoologicalSurveyofIndia,Calcutta,ImperialAgriculturalInstituteofPusainDelhi(astheIndianAgiculturalResearchInstitutewasthenknown),ProfessorofZoologyinSt.JohnsCollege,AgraandProfessorEmeritus,BotanyDepartmentofPresidencyCollege,Madras.HefoundedtheprestigiousSchoolofEntomologyIn…     

John Marshall's Kalahari Family

Throughout his career and through his films, John Marshall has embodied many representational debates in anthropology and ethnographic media production. With A Kalahari Family, Marshall has provided his most reflexive film to date as well as a comprehensive visual record of 50 years of transition among the Ju'hoansi, from lingering, hunter-gatherer subsistence to problematic and often tragic contemporary living conditions. A Kalahari Family bears witness to the negative effects a racist ideology and varied development agendas have had on an indigenous group of people, and the transformative effects they continue to have. In the film, the audience also witnesses the evolution of John Marshall himself, from naïve, inexperienced teenager engaging an exotic other, with all the inherent cultural baggage of a Western perspective, to his eventual emergence as a filmmaker and a dedicated advocate for the people with whom he has become so involved.     

Origin of the Golgi system in amoebae

Summary An electron microscopic study of the Golgi apparatus in the giant amoeba, Pelomyxa illinoisensis, has been presented. Studies of normally feeding, dividing, starving, and refeeding amoebae were made. The major finding is that plasmalemma vesicles, formed via pinocytosis and phagocytosis, either flatten or invaginate and form the cisternae of the Golgi apparatus. Plasmalemma vesicles are also a source of new cisternae during the lifetime of a given Golgi apparatus. The cisternae migrate through the Golgi system, but before being released they either inflate, or segment into smaller vesicles. It is postulated that they later empty into the contractile vacuole and into certain other vacuoles. No evidence was found for the fusion of smooth Golgi vesicles or fringed vesicles of any kind with the plasmalemma.Dedicated to Professor Friedrich Wassermann with admiration and affection on the occasion of his eightieth birthday.Work supported by U. S. Atomic Energy Commission. A part of the work was reported at the XVI International Congress of Zoology, Washington, D. C., in 1963.     

Marshall J. Edwards: discoverer of maternal hyperthermia as a human teratogen

In a series of animal studies performed over a career spanning 40 years at the University of Sydney, Professor Marshall J. Edwards investigated the hypothesis that maternal hyperthermia during gestation can be teratogenic to the developing fetus. He is one of few investigators to have discovered a known human teratogen primarily through animal studies. In 1970 he earned his Ph.D. from the University of Sydney, writing a doctoral thesis entitled "A Study of Some Factors Affecting Fertility of Animals with Particular Reference to the Effects of Hyperthermia on Gestation and Prenatal Development of the Guinea-Pig." He went on to prove that hyperthermia-induced malformations in animals involve many organs and structures, particularly the central nervous system. Other defects include craniofacial anomalies, heart defects and hypodactyly, cataracts and coloboma, kyphoscoliosis, renal anomalies, dental agenesis, and abdominal wall defects. In a series of carefully planned and executed experiments, he demonstrated that the type of defect is related to the timing of the hyperthermic insult, and analyzed the underlying mechanisms. Cell death, membrane disruption, vascular disruption, and placental infarction were all implicated in causing embryonic damage. This special article reviews the scientific discoveries and personal philosophy of Marshall J. Edwards, the discoverer of maternal hyperthermia as a human teratogen.     

Alfred Newton's contribution to ornithology: a conservative quest for facts rather than grand theories

Alfred Newton (1829–1907) was a founding member of the British Ornithologists’ Union, served as editor of The Ibis, and became one of the best‐known British ornithologists of the nineteenth‐century. Between 1855 and 1864 he travelled in Europe and North America, making a trip to Iceland in 1858 with John Wolley in search of information about the Great Auk Pinguinus impennis. In 1866 Newton obtained the chair of Zoology and Comparative Zoology at the University of Cambridge, where he remained for rest of his career. An unenthusiastic teacher, Newton nevertheless encouraged successive generations of young ornithologists through the soirées he held in his college rooms. Newton published extensively, but his most significant publication was the Dictionary of Birds (1896). Newton's death marked the beginning of the end of a long period in which scientific ornithology comprised little more than taxonomy and nomenclature, although Newton was also instrumental in initiating conservation legislation. Extremely conservative in most aspects of his life, Newton was nevertheless the first ornithologist to appreciate the significance of natural selection. He therefore constitutes an important figure in an era of ornithology that immediately precedes the current interest in field ornithology.     

The fine structure of muscle in a marine turbellarian

Summary The fine structure of the myofibers of Notoplana acticola as studied by electron microscopy indicates that they are composed of thick myofilaments about 200 Å wide with tapering ends and thin myofilaments about 50 Å wide, arranged alongside each other parallel to the long axis of the cell. There is no orderly transverse arrangement of filaments; instead they appear staggered in the fiber. In cross sections 6 to 10 thin filaments form an orbit around one thick filament with possible cross-linkage between the two types of filaments.Dense bodies are associated with the sarcolemma and with the sarcoplasmic reticulum, and appear to serve as attachments for the thin filaments. Dense bodies are compared to elements forming a fragmented Z-disc.Mitochondria, situated in the periphery or the center of fibers, are associated with granules interpreted as glycogen.The sarcoplasmic reticulum consists of: sacs or cisternae in close proximity to the sarcolemma, longitudinal tubular elements between and parallel to the myofilaments, and a tubular network around the filaments. There is no well-defined sarcolemmal-derived transverse tubule system as described in striated muscles. It is hypothesized that in these muscles, the functional equivalent of the T system may be the area of sarcolemma in contact with the cisternae of the sarcoplasmic reticulum.This work was supported by Grant No. GM 10292 from the U. S. Public Health Service to Professor Richard M. Eakin, Department of Zoology at the University of California, Berkeley, USA, where this investigation was conducted during the author's sabbatical leave of absence from the University of Illinois.I wish to thank Professor Eakin for valuable discussions and for his kind hospitality in extending the facilities of his laboratory and the use of the electron microscope to me, and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for the Fellowship which I held during 1964–65.     

Classification of amphipod compound eyes — The fine structure of the ommatidial units (Crustacea,Amphipoda)

Summary The ultrastructure of the compound eyes of 13 amphipod species has been investigated. An amphipod type of compound eye can be characterized by the constellation and consistency of a number of morphological features, most of which are also found in other compound eyes. The amphipod eye falls into four sub-categories (types). The ampeliscid type has a tripartite aberrant lens eye; the lysianassid type has a reduced or no dioptric apparatus and a hypertrophied rhabdom; the hyperid type possesses a large number of ommatidial units with long crystalline cones and dark instead of reflecting accessory pigment; and finally, the gammarid type can be interpreted as a generalized amphipod type. The lysianassid type is adapted to low light intensities and demonstrates convergent development with the compound eyes of other deep-sea crustaceans. The ampeliscid type is more similar to the gammarid type. The type characterization of the amphipod compound eye might well serve as a basis and incentive for functional studies also revealing adaptational mechanisms.This paper is dedicated to Professor Erik Dahl on his 65th birthday and retirement from the Chair of Structural Zoology, Department of Zoology, University of LundThe investigation has been supported by grants from the Swedish Natural Science Research Council (Grants 2760-009 and 009-43). Our thanks are due to the staffs of the marine biological stations in Espegrend (Norway) and Kristineberg (Sweden) and of the research vessel Jean Charcot, Brest, France. The skilled technical assistance of Mrs. Rita Wallén and Miss Maria Walles is gratefully acknowledged     

Nobuhiko Katunuma: an outstanding scientist in the field of proteolysis and warm-hearted 'Kendo Fighter' biochemist

Professor Nobuhiko Katunuma is well known for his outstanding contribution to the understanding of proteolysis in general and cysteine proteinases and their inhibitors in mammals. In fact, he is a world pioneer in the field. In 1963, he started his highly successful scientific career as a Professor at the Institute for Enzyme Research, the University of Tokushima. During the initial 30 years of his career, he was interested in vitamin B6 metabolism and discovered the acceleration of turnover rates of pyridoxal enzyme in apoprotein formation. After this period, his interest expanded to lysosomal cystein proteinases and their endogenous inhibitors. After determining the crystal structure of human cathepsin B, he generated a series of chemically synthesized specific inhibitors of cathepsins. These inhibitors are currently used throughout the world and some of them have been applied therapeutically in various diseases. During his career and even at present, Professor Katunuma has been studying Biochemistry in Medicine and also practicing to become a 'Kendo sword fencing Fighter'.     

Alcide d’Orbigny (1802–1857) : sa vie et son œuvre

Numerous fields of Life and Earth Sciences as well as Human Sciences are indebted to Alcide d’Orbigny for his huge and innovating work. From his long journey in South America, he brought back a rich wealth of scientific collections and information related to Botany, Zoology, physical and human Geography, Geology, and Ethnography. Founder of Micropalaeontology, by his foraminiferal studies, and of Biostratigraphy, he is still present in Sciences today thanks to the numerous implications of his works in numerous domains of both academic research and economic sector.     

Professor Glyn O. Phillip’s legacy within the IAEA programme on radiation and tissue banking

Professor Phillips began his involvement in the implementation of this important IAEA programme, insisting that there were advantages to be gained by using the ionizing radiation technique to sterilize human and animal tissues, based on the IAEA experience gained in the sterilization of medical products. The outcome of the implementation of the IAEA programme on radiation and tissue banking demonstrated that Professor Phillips was right in his opinion.     

纪念戴芳澜教授诞辰九十周年

戴芳澜教授(1893.5.4—1973.1.3)是我国真菌学的创始人,也是我国植物病理学的主要奠基人之一。他为祖国培养了大量人才。为纪念他的光辉业绩,值戴教授诞辰九十周年、逝世十周年之际,特发表他的一篇评论性论文;戴教授的主要著作目录;俞大绂、陈鸿逵、周家炽、裘维蕃、相望年等教授的怀念性文章和他一生中各时期的照片两版,以资纪念。