Some observations on the ultrastructure of the adenohypophysis of certain Cervidae

The pituitaries of four species of deer were examined with the electron microscope and our findings are discussed in relation to their function. Functions are ascribed to the granular cell types, and the stellate cells discussed.     

Some observations on the infrastructure of the thyroid of certain Cervidae

The thyroids of four species of deer were examined with the electron micriscope and the appearance of the follicular cells are described. In particular phagolysosomes are described in relation to the secretion of thyroid hormone.     

Chromosomal evolution in Cervidae

On the basis of chromosome data obtained on 30 species and 20 subspecies of Cervidae, a report is submitted on the karyosystematics of this family. The primitive karyotype of Cervidae may be inferred to be composed of 35 acrocentric pairs (2n = 70 FN = 70). During the phyletic evolution of this family different types of chromosome rearrangements were probably selected and the group may have differentiated karyologically into three branches: (1) the Cervinae that fixed a centric fusion resulting in a metacentric pair of autosomes (2n = 68, FN = 70), as shown by the basic karyotype of Cervus elaphus, and where Robertsonian fusions are the preeminent type of chromosome rearrangement; (2) the Odocoileinae, in which pericentric inversions and Robertsonian fusions were favored, yielding first a submetacentric X and then a submetacentric autosome pair. The most representative karyotype is 2n = 70, FN = 74--as in Odocoileus hemionus; and (3) the Muntiacinae, in which centric and tandem fusions were the most common chromosome rearrangements. While Muntiacus reevesi has a karyotype 2n = 46, FN = 46, the chromosome number drops down to 2n = 6 in the females of the M. muntjak vaginalis subspecies group and M. rooseveltorum. Therefore, while the karyotypes are conserved within the subfamilies Cervinae and Odocoileinae; the subfamily Muntiacinae appears to be the most chromosomally diversified group. The few karyological data on the Moschus berezovskii suggest that the Moschinae should be placed in a separate family, the Moschidae.     

STUDIES ON THE CORNEA : III. The Fine Structure of the Frog Cornea and the Uptake and Transport of Colloidal Particles by the Cornea in vivo

The fine structure of the frog cornea has been studied and compared with that of the rabbit cornea (1, 2) particularly in relation to the uptake and transport of colloidal particles. The frog corneal endothelium does not possess a terminal bar and the fluid space of the intercellular space is apparently continuous with that of the anterior chamber. Colloidal markers (ThO₂, Fe₂O₃) placed in the anterior chamber pass down the intercellular space into the cornea. Markers injected intrastromally diffuse freely in the stroma and Descemet's membrane but pass across the endothelium only via membrane-bounded vesicles. These results are compared with those of similar experiments in the rabbit and it is concluded that the primary pathway for the passage of materials into the cornea is intercellular and that the pinocytotic pathway of the rabbit corneal endothelium (Kaye and Pappas; Kaye et al.) is an adaptation to the presence of a terminal bar. The significance of the separation of inward and outward pathways in terms of corneal metabolism is considered.     

STUDIES ON THE CORNEA : I. The Fine Structure of the Rabbit Cornea and the Uptake and Transport of Colloidal Particles by the Cornea in Vivo

Physiological studies have demonstrated that ions, as well as large molecules such as hemoglobin or fluorescein, can diffuse across and within the cornea. Most of the substrates for corneal metabolism are obtained from aqueous humor filling the anterior chamber. In order to receive its nutrients and in order to maintain its normal conditions of hydration, the avascular cornea must transport relatively large amounts of solute and solvent across the cellular layers which cover this structure. It has been suggested in the past that there may be a morphological basis for the transport of large amounts of solvents and solutes by cells by the mechanism of pinocytosis. The use of electron-opaque markers to study fluid movements at the electron microscope magnification level was described by Wissig (29). The present study describes the fine structure of the normal rabbit cornea and the pathways of transport of colloidal particles by the cornea in vivo. Rabbit corneas were exposed in vivo to suspensions of saccharated iron oxide, thorium dioxide, or ferritin by injection of the material into the anterior chamber. In other experiments thorium dioxide or saccharated iron oxide was injected into the corneal stroma, producing a small bleb. Particles presented at the aqueous humor surface of the rabbit corneal endothelium are first attached to the cell surface and then pinocytosed. It appears that the particles are carried around the terminal bar by an intracellular pathway involving the pinocytosis of the particles and their subsequent transport in vesicles to the lateral cell margin basal to the terminal bar. Particles introduced at the basal surface of the endothelium (via blebs in the corneal stroma) are apparently carried through the endothelial cells in membrane-bounded vesicles without appearing in the intercellular space. There appears to be free diffusion of these particles through Descemet's membrane and the corneal stroma. The stromal cells take up large quantities of the particles when blebs are injected into the stroma.     

激光照射对角膜蛋白质二级结构影响的光谱分析

为了研究激光照射后角膜蛋白质化学组成的改变,探讨激光角膜损伤的发生机制,将日本大耳白兔随机分为正常对照组和激光损伤组,选取角膜上皮层和基质层作为研究对象,通过傅里叶变换红外光谱技术(Fou-rier transform infrared spectroscopy,FT-IR)对角膜组织酰胺I带中蛋白质二级结构各吸收峰进行定量分析,观察激光照射后蛋白质分子结构的改变情况。结果显示,激光照射后出现蛋白质二级结构吸收峰的位移和积分百分比的改变。激光照射可使角膜上皮层和基质层蛋白质构象发生改变,从而导致蛋白质结构稳定性下降和蛋白质生物功能的破坏。     

扬子鳄角膜超微结构研究

用航向电镜研究了扬子鳄角膜的超微结构。结果表明：扬子鳄角膜由皮细胞层、Ｂｏｗｍａｎ膜、角膜基质、后弹力膜和内皮细胞层组成;与Ｕｎｄｅｒｗｏｏｄ在爬行类视觉器官综述中认为鳄类无Ｂｏｗｍａｎ膜的结果不相符。本文还描述了角膜各层的超微结构的特点。     

Elastic properties of the feet of deer (Cervidae)

Dynamic tests have been performed on the feet of deer, and on tendons removed from the feet, to determine their elastic properties. The results have been used to calculate the strain energy stored in each foot while it is on the ground in a fast galloping stride. This is compared with an estimate of the work done by the leg, and the energy-saving rle of tendon elasticity is assessed.     

Variability,morphometrics, and co-variation of the os lacrimale in Cervidae

In Ruminantia, the lacrimal bone forms a considerable part of the facial skeleton, and the morphology of its facial facet is highly variable when compared to other mammals. In this study, we quantify the species-specific variability in size and shape of the lacrimal facial facet in species of Cervidae (deer) and relate it to systematics and various aspects of their ecology and behavior. We sampled 143 skull specimens from 10 genera; 12 Moschus and 3 Tragulus specimens were used as outgroups. We find that size and shape of the lacrimal facial facet allow differentiating most species analyzed here, except for Mazama gouazoubira and Capreolus capreolus. Size and shape of the lacrimal facial facet vary widely across Cervidae regardless of their systematic relationships, ecology or behavior. Thus, we could not detect a unique signature of adaptational criteria in lacrimal morphology. Our data indicate that the lacrimal facial facet scales allometrically with skull size, in particular, the lacrimojugal length scales positively and the lacrimomaxillar length scales negatively. However, correlation analyses did not reveal any differences in the integration of the lacrimal bone with any specific skull module in any of the species compared. Lastly, we could not ascertain any correlation between the size and position of the preorbital depression with the size and shape of the lacrimal facial facet. We conclude that the lacrimal facial facet is highly flexible and may rapidly adjust to its surrounding bones. Its allometric growth appears to be an example of exaptation: changes in size and shape in the context of the increase of the skull length provide lacrimal contacts, in particular, a lacrimojugal one, which may serve to reduce mechanical loads resulting from increasingly larger antlers in large cervids.     

一种鹿科动物标本的分子鉴定

中国是世界上鹿科动物资源最丰富的国家之一,共有18种,分属獐亚科、麂亚科、鹿亚科和美洲鹿亚科,占全球鹿种的41.7％(盛和林等,1992).在皖南分布的鹿科动物有梅花鹿华南亚种(Cervus nippon pseudaxis)、黑麂(Muntiacus crinifrons)、黄麂(Muntiacus reevesi)和毛冠鹿(Elaphadus cephalophus)(王岐山,1990).2001年11月从泾县获得一具标本(图1-A,标本现保存于安徽师范大学标本馆),体形及大小似梅花鹿,身体背部毛棕褐色,无明显白斑,尾背面黑色、腹面纯白,但鹿角主干表面光滑,无眉叉及其它分叉.鹿角是鹿科动物所特有的结构,是区别于其它有蹄类的标志之一.     

Oxygen Permeability of the Limiting Layers of the Cornea

Using polarography and suitable mathematical analysis, the oxygen permeability of an individual layer of a bilayered tissue may be determined if the oxygen consumption and permeability of the other layer are known. Results obtained on rabbit cornea indicate that the permeability of the epithelium is about four times that of the endothelium.     

Artificial Cornea and the Future of Eye Banking

A report on the construction of functional human corneal equivalent reflects a step towards creation of an artificial cornea. We discuss the current status of supply and demand for corneas for transplanation, and wonder if the creation of an artificial cornea will have an effect on corneal transplantation in the near future     

The Causes of Necrobiosis and Apoptosis of Cornea Epithelial Cells during Primary Acquired Keratoconus Cornea

We studied 56 biopsy samples of conjunctiva and 50 corneal discs excised from 28 patients with acquired keratoconus cornea. The conjunctivas in all biopsy samples showed various stages of immune inflammation. Necrobiotic changes have been revealed in epithelium of the corneal discs going by the pathways of apoptosis—programmed cell death—and oncosis—initial edematic stage of necrobiosis. At the stage of acute inflammation they are due to cytotoxic effect of the lymphocytes, monocytes, and macrophages. Antibody-dependent cytotoxicity mediated by plasma and lymphoid cells predominates at this stage. At the reparative stage of inflammation ischemia, an inductor of apoptosis and oncosis, underlies necrobiotic changes in corneal epithelium.     

NORs, heterochromatin, and R-bands in three species of Cervidae

Chromomycin A3 banding of the chromosomes of three species of Cervidae (red deer, fallow deer, roe deer) allows the demonstration of both centromeric constitutive heterochromatin and R-banding patterns useful for identifying all the chromosomes of a given karyotype. In all three species significant amounts of chromomycin-bright heterochromatin are present at the centromeres of all autosomes. The X chromosomes of all investigated species contained appreciable amounts of centromeric heterochromatin. AgNO3 staining was applied sequentially to detect the location of active nucleolus organizer regions (NORs). The distribution of NORs was reasonably conservative in the investigated species.