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Fine structural and histochemical study of lingual taste organs of Rana catesbeiana (Anura: Ranidae) transplanted to liver
Author(s) -
Toyoshima Kuniaki
Publication year - 1989
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.1052000105
Subject(s) - taste , rana , biology , basal (medicine) , transplantation , adenosine triphosphatase , immunohistochemistry , anatomy , cytoplasm , electron microscope , pathology , microbiology and biotechnology , atpase , medicine , endocrinology , biochemistry , enzyme , immunology , insulin , physics , optics
Autologous tongues were transplanted onto the liver of the anuran Rana catesbeiana , specimens of which were sacrificed at intervals from 6 hr to 5 months after transplantation. Light and electron microscopy as well as histochemistry disclose that the grafts start to organize into cysts after 14 days. The taste organs occur in all grafts irrespective of the age of the graft. All surviving taste organs exhibit intense adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity and contain fluorescent basal cells of the usual type. Ultrastructurally, the taste organs are composed of three distinct types of cells that lack nerves. The taste and basal cells retain the characteristic dense‐core granules in their cytoplasm through the experimental periods. The present results suggested that the taste organs of Rana can survive ectopically in the liver for up to 5 months.