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Glial Cell Composition and Ultrastructure of the Caudal Spinal Cord of Young and Adult Tuataras, Sphenodon punctatus
Author(s) -
Alibardi Lorenzo
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
acta zoologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.414
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1463-6395
pISSN - 0001-7272
DOI - 10.1111/j.1463-6395.1992.tb01183.x
Subject(s) - biology , basophilic , ultrastructure , anatomy , spinal cord , neuroglia , astrocyte , white matter , oligodendrocyte , cell type , central nervous system , pathology , myelin , cell , endocrinology , neuroscience , medicine , genetics , radiology , magnetic resonance imaging
Research on the caudal spinal cord (SC) of three young and three adult tuataras ( Sphenodon punctatus ) has revealed that most of the glial cells were well differentiated as astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. The former type was not completely differentiated 3 months post‐hatching, but was the main glial cell type at the age of 1 yr and in adulthood. Smaller numbers of oligodendrocytes were found in the white matter of adult animals than fibrous astrocytes. It was concluded that during growth, there is a progressive decrease in the dark, basophilic and electron‐dense glioblasts, most of which develop as astrocytes.