Summary
The birefringent fibrils in thin-spread plasmodium ofPhysarum polycephalum have been investigated with both polarizing and electron microscopes. The birefringent fibrils were classified into three groups by polarized light microscopy. The first type of fibril is observed in the advancing frontal region as a mutual orthogonal array. The birefringence changes rhythmically in accordance with the shuttle streaming. The second type of birefringent fibril is located in the strand region and runs parallel or somewhat oblique to the strand axis. The third type is observed in the strand region always perpendicular to the streaming axis. Electron microscopy confirmed that all these fibrils are composed of microfilaments, which range in densities in the cross view of the fibril from 1.2 to 1.7 × 103/μm2 (1.5 × 103/(xm2 on the average).
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Ishigami, M., Nagai, R. & Kuroda, K. A polarized light and electron microscopic study of the birefringent fibrils inPhysarum plasmodia. Protoplasma 109, 91–102 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01287632
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01287632