A view of cross sections of the finger-like extensions of the alveoli that bind to the cytostomal cord. Alveoli store calcium (see Stelly et al., J. Cell Biol. 113:103-112, 1991) and calcium release causes the infraciliary lattice to contract. Presumably a controlled release of calcium from these fingers will result in the contraction of the cytostomal cord which is an extension of the infraciliary lattice. Such a contraction could either promote discoidal vesicle fusion with the cytopharyngeal membrane or initiate release of the nascent vacuole from the cytopharynx. TEM taken on 4/4/74 by R. Allen with Hitachi HU11A operating at 75kV. Neg. 12,750X. Bar = 0.5?m.
Biological Process: Oral apparatus organization
Standard glutaraldehyde fixation followed by osmium tetroxide, dehydrated in alcohol and embedded in an epoxy resin. Microtome sections prepared at approximately 75nm thickness. The negative was printed to paper and the image was scanned to Photoshop. This digitized image is available for qualitative analysis. Additional information available at (http://www5.pbrc.hawaii.edu/allen/).
Author: Richard Allen (University of Hawaii)
Source: The Cell: An Image Library