ISSN:
1432-0878
Keywords:
Salivary gland
;
Innervation
;
Insect
;
Monoamines
;
Electron microscopy
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
Summary The salivary glands of the moth, Manduca sexta (Insecta: Sphingidae), are unlike most other salivary glands in that they are innervated from one source only. Vital staining of nerves with methylene-blue reveals numerous fine nerves extending to the glands from the oesophageal nerve, a part of the stomatogastric or visceral nervous system. Light and electron microscopy confirm that only the fluid-secreting cells, confined to a discrete region in these glands, are innervated. Axons with or without glial wrappings are found in intercellular spaces between fluid-secreting cells. Axons lacking a glial sheath contain, after glutaraldehyde-osmium tetroxide fixation, large granular and small agranular vesicles. In nerve endings in glands fixed with permanganate these smaller vesicles are granular, having the electron-dense cores characteristic of monoamine-containing neurons. These nerve endings with “synaptoid areas” are in close (“direct”) contact with the fluid-secreting cells.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00224585
