On the function of the polar filament of Nosema bombycis

Abstract

Among the new facts discovered in the course of the writer's investigation on the function of the polar filament of the spore of Nosema bombycis (Ohshima, 1927), the following two are considered the most important:(1) As soon as its filament extrusion is accomplished in the midgut of a silkworm, the spore discharges a viscous fluid through the tube of the filament. This fluid remains hanging in a spherical shape at the extremity of the filament.(2) Both the polar filament and the viscous fluid are speedily digested by the digestive ferment of the silkworm in a few seconds.