Summary
Examination of pituitaries from young and adult turtles representing four families, reveals that in addition to the abundant juxtaneural pars tuberalis (JuxPT) found in this class of reptiles, there is generally a substantial amount of pars tuberalis (PT) tissue closely associated with the pars distalis (PD). The PT forms a cortical layer especially conspicuous around the anterior tip of the PD in some species (Trionyx, Kinosternon, Sternotherus), or it forms a thick dorsal layer of tissue irregularly extending onto the sides of the PD in others (Pseudemys, Chrysemys, Lepidochelys, Chelonia).
Immunocytochemical studies using unlabelled second antibody and peroxidase-antiperoxidase reveal that in turtles of all ages, the PT tissue allied with the PD (the PTinterna) is composed primarily of cells containing glycoprotein hormones (FSH, LH and TSH), especially the gonadotropins. The juxPT, however, consists mainly of secretory cells unstained by the antisera tested and includes only a small number of gonadotropes and thyrotropes. Although usually widely distributed in the testudinate adenohypophysis, the great majority of gonadotropes and thyrotropes present in the hatchling are in the PTinterna. It is probable that a concentration of these cells in the PTinterna is widespread among vertebrates.
In all turtles examined, lactotropes occur principally in the anterior and ventral part of the PD proper; somatotropes are posterior and dorsal. Corticotropes are concentrated as the lactotropes in the anterior PD, but some are also scattered throughout the posterior half of the gland. Lactotropes, corticotropes, and with a few exceptions, somatotropes, do not occur in PT tissue in the turtle.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baker BL, Yu Y-Y (1975) Immunocytochemical analysis of cells in the pars tuberalis of the rat hypophysis with antisera to hormones of the pars distalis. Cell Tissue Res 156:443–449
Baumgartner EA (1916) The development of the hypophysis in reptiles. J Morphol 28:209–285
Brookes LD (1967) A stain for differentiating two types of acidophil in the pituitary. Gen Comp Endocrinol 9:436 (Abst. No. 22)
Dawson AB (1937) The relationships of the epithelial components of the pituitary gland of the rabbit and cat. Anat Rec 69:471–486
Dawson AB (1948) The relationship of the pars tuberalis to the pars distalis in the hypophysis of the Rhesus monkey. Anat Rec 102:103–121
Doerr-Schott J (1976) Immunohistochemical detection, by light and electron microscopy, of pituitary hormones in cold-blooded vertebrates. II. Reptiles. Gen Comp Endocrinol 28:513–529
Fitzgerald KT (1979) The structure and function of the pars tuberalis of the vertebrate adenohypophysis. Gen Comp Endocrinol 37:383–399
Frémont PH, Ferrand R (1978) Quail Rathke's pouch differentiation. An electron microscopic study. Anat Embryol 153:23–36
Guedenet J-C, Bugnon C, Fellman D, Grignon G (1975) Etude immunocytochimique des cellules corticotropes de l'hypophyse de la tortue terrestre (Testudo mauritanica). CR Acad Sci D (Paris) 281:1253–1256
Herlant M, Grignon G (1961) Le lobe glandulaire de l'hypophyse chez la tortue terrestre (Testudo mauritanica Dumer.). Etude histochimique et histophysiologique. Arch Biol (Liege) 72:97–151
Holmes RL, Ball JN (1974) The pituitary gland: a comparative account. University Press, Cambridge, pp 288–322
Licht P (1978) Studies on the immunochemical relatedness among tetrapod gonadotropins and their subunits with antisera to sea turtle hormones. Gen Comp Endocrinol 36:68–78
Licht P, Bona-Gallo A (1978) Immunochemical relatedness among pituitary follicle-stimulating hormones of tetrapod vertebrates. Gen Comp Endocrinol 36:575–584
Licht P, Pearson AK (1978) Cytophysiology of the reptilian pituitary gland. Int Rev Cytol Suppl 7:239–286
Licht P, Farmer SW, Papkoff H (1976) Further studies on the chemical nature of reptilian gonadotropins: FSH and LH in the American alligator and green sea turtle. Biol Reprod 14:222–232
Licht P, MacKenzie DS, Papkoff H, Farmer S (1977a) Immunological studies with the gonadotropins and their subunits from the green sea turtle Chelonia mydas. Gen Comp Endocrinol 33:231–241
Licht P, Papkoff H, Farmer SW, Muller CH, Tsui HW, Crews D (1977b) Evolution of gonadotropin structure and function. Recent Prog Horm Res 33:169–243
MacKenzie DS, Licht P and Papkoff H (1981) Purification of thyrotropin from the pituitaries of two turtles: the green sea turtle and the snapping turtle. Gen Comp Endocrinol 45:139–148
Mikami S, Hashikawa T, Farner DS (1973) Cytodifferentiation of the adenohypophysis of the domestic fowl. Z Zellforsch 138:299–314
Nakane PK (1970) Classification of anterior pituitary cell types with immunoenzyme histochemistry. J Histochem Cytochem 18:9–20
Nemec H (1952) Zur mikroskopischen Anatomie und Topographie der Reptilienhypophyse. Z Mikrosk Anat Forsch 59:254–285
Pearson AK (in press) Development of the pituitary. In: Gans C, Billett F (eds) Biology of the reptilia. Academic Press, London
Pearson AK, Wurst GZ (1977) Embryonic differentiation of the pituitary in a snake (Thamnophis brachystoma). Anat Embryol 151:141–155
Saint Girons H (1970) The pituitary gland. In: Gans C, Parsons TS (eds) Biology of the reptilia. Vol 3, Academic Press, London, pp 135–199
Sprankel H (1956) Beiträge zur Ontogenese der Hypophyse von Testudo graeca L. und Emys orbicularis L. mit besonderer Berücksichtigung ihrer Beziehungen zur Praechordalplatte. Chorda und Darmdach. Z Mikrosk Anat Forsch 62:587–660
Sternberger L (1979) Immunocytochemistry. 2nd Ed. Wiley, New York, pp 356
Sternberger L, Joseph SA (1979) The unlabeled antibody method. J Histochem Cytochem 27:1424–1429
Stoeckel ME, Porte A, Hindelang-Gertner C, Dellmann H-D (1973) A light and electron microscopic study of the pre- and postnatal development and secretory differentiation of the pars tuberalis of the rat hypophysis. Z Zellforsch 142:347–365
Vacca LL, Abrahams SJ, Naftchi NE (1980) A modified peroxidase-antiperoxidase procedure for improved localization of tissue antigens. J Histochem Cytochem 28:297–307
Watanabe YG, Daikoku S (1979) An immunohistochemical study on the cytogenesis of adenohypophysial cells in fetal rats. Dev Biol 58:557–567
Wermuth H, Mertens R (1977) Liste der rezenten Amphibien und Reptilien. Testudines, Crocodylia, Rhynchocephalia. In: Mertens R, Henning W, Wermuth H (eds) Das Tierreich. No. 100. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, p 174
Wingstrand KG (1951) The structure and development of the avian pituitary. Gleerup, Lund, p 59–60; p 152
Yamada K, Sano M, Nonomura K, Ieda M (1960) Histological studies of the anterior pituitary of the turtle, Clemmys japonica. Okajimas Folia Anat Jpn 35:133–143
Yip DY, Lofts B (1976) Adenohypophysial cell-types in the pituitary gland of the soft-shelled turtle, Trionyx sinensis. Cell Tissue Res 170:523–537
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
We are grateful to Drs. Harold Papkoff and J.C. Ramachandran of the Hormone Research Laboratory of the University of California in San Francisco for their generous gifts of several antisera and to Dr. Ludwig Sternberger for the peroxidase-antiperoxidase used in this study. Thanks are also given to Phyllis Thompson for assistance with the illustrations and to William Rainey, David Owen and John Cadle for specimens that they made available. Use of the facilities of the Electron Microscope Laboratory of the University of California at Berkeley is gratefully acknowledged, including use of the JEOL-JEM 100CX transmission electron microscope purchased under National Science Foundation Grant Number PCM-7821561. This work was supported by NSF grant PCM-7812470 to PL
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pearson, A.K., Licht, P. Morphology and immunocytochemistry of the turtle pituitary gland with special reference to the pars tuberalis. Cell Tissue Res. 222, 81–100 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00218290
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00218290