An electron microscope study of nebenkern formation and differentiation in spermatids of Murgantia histrionica (Hemiptera, Pentatomidae)

Mitochondria in early spermatids of many insects aggregate and form a round body, the nebenkern. The nebenkern undergoes a structural differentiation and then divides into two separate equal-sized bodies. In the present study, nebenkerns of Murgantia histrionica, a Hemipteran insect, were reconstructed using electron micrographs of serial sections to determine how the mitochondria transform into the two separate bodies. Newly formed nebenkerns are made of one piece, an anastomosis of rod-like segments. Some segments interconnect to join networks of rings. Each network interlocks with another similar network, but networks which interlock are connected with each other by other segments of the nebenkern. Later, the entire nebenkern is made of two unconnected and interlocked networks of rings. The nebenkern appears to remain bipartite during subsequent differentiation. Since the two pieces are interlocked, breaks must occur before the pieces can separate. As breaks occur, each network transforms into a set of curved sheets, producing a nebenkern made of four concentric layers. The three outer layers are each made of two curved sheets which surround a bipartite central core. The surface sheets meet at a furrow in the surface of the nebenkern; segments in each layer are roughly symmetrical with each other about the plane in which the furrow lies. Rod-like segments join alternate segments. The number of layers then decreases to three, and later, to two. These nebenkerns resemble four-layered nebenkerns, but fewer connections between alternate segments are present. The two pieces constituting the nebenkern probably separate after most of the latter connections disappear. Hypotheses to account for the observed changes in nebenkern structure are presented.     

Regional distribution of sodium-potassium activated adenosine triphosphatase in the brain of the Rhesus monkey

Abstract— The activity of Na-K ATPase was determined in twenty-one regions of the Rhesus monkey brain. White matter contained the lowest activity. The highest activities were found in the cerebral cortex, cerebellar cortex, thalamus, and colliculi. The activities of the enzyme in gray matter were fairly regular in distribution with only a twofold difference between highest (occipital cortex) and lowest (globus pallidus). The possibility that the regional variation in the activity of the enzyme reflects differences in electrical activity and (or) the concentration of dendritic processes was discussed.