Electron microscopical investigations of the intercellular contacts during the early cleavage stages ofLymnaea stagnalis (Mollusca,Gastropoda)

Summary In early cleavage stages ofLymnaea stagnalis, three kinds of intercellular junctions could be distinguished up to the sixth cleavage: intermediate, septate and gap junctions. The first two form junctional belts located on the cell border at the periphery of the embryo. For the purpose of our study we were most interested in gap junctions as they are alleged to be structures that allow cell-to-cell communication. Gap junctions first appear at the four cell stage. Up to the sixth cleavage no difference in the distribution pattern could be found between and within each of the four quadrants of the embryo. Some of the cell tiers along the animal-vegetal axis lack gap junctions either between the blastomeres within the tier or between the blastomeres from adjacent tiers. All gap junctions observed in freeze fracture replicas show plaques with an irregular IMP pattern. The average IMP diameter measures 12 nm (SD±2 nm). In stages fixed after the fifth cleavage, gap junctions are found between micromeres at the animal pole and the central 3D macromere. This is in agreement with the presumed interaction between these cells at this stage. The possibility of a transition of non-functional into functional gap junctions after the fifth cleavage is discussed.