Journal article

Publication year: 1983

Pages: 122-140

Journal: Journal of ultrastructure research

Volume number: 83

Issue number: 2

ISSN: 0022-5320

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5320(83)90070-9

Publisher: Elsevier

Abstract: 
Yolk-platelet crystals in the teleosts Pelvicachromis pulcher and Noemacheilus barbatulus and the amphibians Xenopus laevis, Rana temporaria, R. esculenta and Triturus sp. have been studied by electron diffraction and imaging using a standardized processing (glutaraldehyde-osmium tetroxide fixation, glutaraldehyde-urea embedding, thin-section staining), by X-ray microanalysis and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of their constituents. The crystal lattice is orthorhombic having (following standardized processing) in 3 amphibians a = 9.0 nm, b = 17.6 nm, c = 19.2 nm, and in the 2 teleosts a = 8.9 nm, b = 17.6 nm, c = 20.0 nm (averages). These values are very close to X-ray data from wet crystals (X. laevis). Crystal images in the 3 axial projections point to the presence of space group P212121 (or an approximation of it since the lipovitellin dimers cannot be fully equivalent in some cases), to differences between the phosvitins of the 2 teleosts, and to a highly unusual stain exclusion from large crystal constituents interpreted as representing lipovitellin dimers. Microanalysis in ultrathin cryosections and other preparations revealed K and Cl to be the prominent ions in the crystals (and in the superficial layer of the platelet). Gel electrophoresis (including data of cyclostomes) showed considerable molecular variations despite a closely similar crystal architecture, emphasizing a physiological significance of the architecture, which may have remained conserved for nearly 400 million years according to paleontologic views.

Harvard Citation style: LANGE, R., RICHTER, H., RIEHL, R., ZIEROLD, K., TRANDABURU, T. and MAGDOWSKI, G. (1983) LIPOVITELLIN PHOSVITIN CRYSTALS WITH ORTHORHOMBIC FEATURES - THIN-SECTION ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY, GEL-ELECTROPHORESIS, AND MICROANALYSIS IN TELEOST AND AMPHIBIAN YOLK PLATELETS AND A COMPARISON WITH OTHER VERTEBRATES, Journal of ultrastructure research, 83(2), pp. 122-140. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5320(83)90070-9

APA Citation style: LANGE, R., RICHTER, H., RIEHL, R., ZIEROLD, K., TRANDABURU, T., & MAGDOWSKI, G. (1983). LIPOVITELLIN PHOSVITIN CRYSTALS WITH ORTHORHOMBIC FEATURES - THIN-SECTION ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY, GEL-ELECTROPHORESIS, AND MICROANALYSIS IN TELEOST AND AMPHIBIAN YOLK PLATELETS AND A COMPARISON WITH OTHER VERTEBRATES. Journal of ultrastructure research. 83(2), 122-140. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5320(83)90070-9