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Ultrastructural investigation of the mechanism of muscle attachment to the gastropod shell
Author(s) -
Tompa Alex S.,
Watabe Norimitsu
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
journal of morphology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.652
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1097-4687
pISSN - 0362-2525
DOI - 10.1002/jmor.1051490304
Subject(s) - hemidesmosome , biology , ultrastructure , microfilament , anatomy , tendon , shell (structure) , microbiology and biotechnology , cell , cytoskeleton , materials science , composite material , genetics
The ultrastructure of the muscle‐shell attachment was investigated in the land pulmonate snails Helix aspersa, Anguispira altemata , in the freshwater pulmonate Laevipex sp., and in the freshwater prosobranch Pomacea paludosa. In all cases, a collagenous intercellular matrix and a specialized epithelium (tendon cells) intervene between the columellar muscle and the shell. These tendon cells are characterized by hemidesmosomes at both apical and basal ends, connected by thick bundles of microfilaments. The tendon cells do not insert into the shell directly by microvilli, as formerly thought, but by an extensive network of extracellular organic fibers.