CALCIUM STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTION IN THE DIGESTIVE GLAND OFBENSONIA MONTICOLA(GASTROPODA: PULMONATA): A HISTOPHYSIOLOGICAL STUDY

Abstract

The pulmonate digestive gland is so well-mined an area of investigation that the reasons for another study on it seem to rest on shaky ground. The structure of this organ has been well known for over eighty years now ; it consists of numerous tubules (acini) surrounding the intestine and separated from one another by interacinar spaces. The acini are constructed of an epithelium of various cell types, and a long, as ytt unresolved, controversy has raged over whether there are three kinds or four. Even here, much is to be said in favor of the view of Abolins-Krogis (1970) that all types except calcium cells are different functional manifestations of one basic type. Whatever be the ultimate answer to that, it is undisputed that one of the cell types is the calcium cell. It is also uncontested that

Cadmium stress stimulates tissue turnover in Helix pomatia: increasing cell proliferation from metal tolerance to exhaustion in molluscan midgut gland

“…Additional to enhanced ER, intensification of electron-dense structures in basophilic cell granules after Cd exposure, as demonstrated in the present study (see Fig. 5b, d), can be interpreted as the enhanced accumulation of acid mucopolysaccharides (Gupta 1977;Chabicovsky et al 2004) and might also be regarded as an indication of increased cellular turnover upon stress impact.…”

“…5a). The remnants of faint electron-dense ring-shaped structures within empty calcium granules have been interpreted as aggregations of acid mucopolysaccharides suggested to form an organic matrix for Ca 2+ storage in these cells (Gupta 1977 ; Fig. 5a, c) Clearly, the number and intensity of these ring-shaped structures in calcium granules increased with elevated Cd concentrations in the midgut gland of metal-exposed snails (Fig.…”

Concholepas hemocyanin biosynthesis takes place in the hepatopancreas, with hemocytes being involved in its metabolism

“…This organ, which has been previously described as a digestive gland (Van Weel 1974), is a complex organ that is involved in the following functions: secretion of digestive enzymes; endocytosis and intracellular digestion of food particles; storage of nutrients and calcium; detoxification functions (Giard et al 1998;Bustamante et al 2002). The structure of the hepatopancreas in gastropods consists of numerous tubules (acini) that surround the intestine and are separated by interacinar spaces (Gupta 1977). The histological information obtained in the present study has allowed us to identify cch-cRNA localized in the region around the acini by using an antisense riboprobe.…”

Morphometry of the digestive glands of terrestrial mollusk Cornu aspersum (Gastropoda, Helicidae)

“…Morphologists are mostly interested in their digestive glands of all organ systems, because it is the heaviest part of the gastropods' visceral mass (Barker, 2001), and it is also an organ with complex digestion processes (Bogucki & Helczyk-Kazecka, 1977;Czarnoleski et al, 2008). There are many research approaches; many papers tackle the gland's morpho-physiological features, especially the interspecies comparisons (Sen Gupta, 1977;Devi et al, 1981;Arrighetti et al, 2015). The compared characters usually include the enzymatic activity of glandular cells (Lobo-da-Cunha et al, 2016), changes associated with fasting (Parcel et al, 1996), reaction to various outer factors like the environment's temperature (Naya et al, 2011;Czarnoleski et al, 2016).…”