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Ultrastructure and cytochemistry of vitellogenesis in Wenyonia virilis Woodland, 1923 (Cestoda, Caryophyllidea)

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Abstract

Vitellogenesis in Wenyonia virilis was examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), including the cytochemical detection of glycogen at the ultrastructural level with the periodic acid-thiosemicarbazide-silver proteinate (PA-TSC-SP) technique. Mature vitelline follicles have cells in various stages of development, progressing from immature cells of gonial type near the periphery of the follicle to maturing and mature vitellocytes towards the centre. Maturation is characterized by: (1) increase in cell volume; (2) increase in nuclear surface area restoring the N/C (nucleo-cytoplasmic) ratio; (3) nucleolar transformation; (4) extensive development of parallel cisternae of GER, the shell-protein producing units; (5) development of Golgi complexes, engaged in shell-granule/shell-globule formation and packaging; (6) synthesis and storage of glycogen in the cytoplasm; (7) simultaneous, independent formation and storage of intranuclear glycogen; (8) continuous fusion of small shell-granules into larger shell-globules and fusion of these into large shell-globule clusters with a progressive increase in the number and size of the latter; and (9) disintegration of GER in the medial layer of vitellocyte cytoplasm, degenerative changes and accumulation of glycogen and shell-globule clusters within the cytoplasm. The functional significance of numerous shell-globule clusters and the relatively small amount of nuclear and cytoplasmic glycogen is analysed. Unlike vitellogenesis of other caryophyllids, the nuclear glycogen of mature vitellocytes in W. virilis is randomly dispersed in the nucleoplasm and never forms a high central accumulation, the so-called “nuclear vacuole”. The nutritive function of vitellocytes appears greatly reduced in W. virilis, a fact perhaps related to the intrauterine development of the early embryos. The ultrastructure of vitellogenesis in W. virilis is compared with that in other lower cestodes, both monozoic and polyzoic. Conclusions concerning interrelationships of the vitellogenesis pattern of the ultrastructural cytochemistry of mature vitellocytes of W. virilis to intrauterine embryonation, absence of uterine glands and an extensive uterus characteristic for this species, are drawn and discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. W. Stefański Institute of Parasitology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 51/55 Twarda Street, 00-818, Warsaw, Poland

    Zdzisław Świderski & Daniel Młocicki

  2. Department of General Biology and Parasitology, Medical University of Warsaw, 5 Chałubińskiego Str., Warsaw, Poland

    Zdzisław Świderski

  3. Department of Medical Biology, Medical University of Warsaw, 73 Nowogrodzka Str., Warsaw, Poland

    Daniel Młocicki

  4. Department of Biological Sciences, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, N.Y., 12222, USA

    John S. Mackiewicz

  5. Laboratori de Parasitologia, Departament de Microbiologia i Parasitologia Sanitàries, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Joan XXIII, sn, 08028, Barcelona, Spain

    Jordi Miquel

  6. Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Minia University, El-Minia, 61519, Egypt

    Mohammed H. Ibraheem

  7. Institute of Parasitology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 04001, Košice, Hlinkova 3, Slovak Republik

    Magdalena Bruňanská

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  1. Zdzisław Świderski
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  2. Daniel Młocicki
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  3. John S. Mackiewicz
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  4. Jordi Miquel
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  5. Mohammed H. Ibraheem
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  6. Magdalena Bruňanská
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Correspondence to Zdzisław Świderski.

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Dedicated to the memory of Professor Wincenty L. Wiśniewski on the occasion of 50th anniversary of his death

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Świderski, Z., Młocicki, D., Mackiewicz, J.S. et al. Ultrastructure and cytochemistry of vitellogenesis in Wenyonia virilis Woodland, 1923 (Cestoda, Caryophyllidea). Acta Parasit. 54, 131–142 (2009). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11686-009-0028-0

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