Affiliation:
1. Department of Medicine, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 1QT, England
Abstract
Nematocyst development was watched in living cells of a siphonophore, Rosacea cymbiformis. The secretion differentiates in the formative cell into an ovoid capsule, continuous with a long apical tube. The entry of this ‘external’ tube into the capsule creates the coiled internal ‘thread’ of the mature nematocyst. Electron microscopy shows that the tip of the external tube inverts and moves down the tube towards the capsule. Complex pleats form during inversion. Thus formation of the internal thread is the geometrical converse of discharge. Extensive repacking of the triply pleated, internal thread occurs, and subsequently the barbs form.
Publisher
The Company of Biologists
Cited by
33 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献