Histochmical properties of myofiber types in thigh muscles of the chicken.

Abstract

The presence of subtypes of dark and light myofibers distinguished by myosin adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) reaction after alkaline preincubation was studied in thigh muscles of chickens.The Type IIB myofibers were strong in activity for glycerol-3-phosphate: menadione oxidoreductase (GPOX) whereas many type IIA myofibers were weak.Type IIA myofibers were stained weakly to moderately with 3-hydroxybutyrate: NAD+ oxidoreductase (HBOX) and type IIB myofibers were stained very weakly.Type I, SM, SS, and MM myofibers were stained strongly with NADHOX, weakly to moderately with HBOX, and weakly with GPOX.Myofibers of skeletal muscle have been classified into three to seven types by correlating the relative activity of myosin adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) and oxidoreductase in chickens (1,8,16,18). In general, the myofibers that show a strong reaction for acid-stable myosin and a weak reaction for alkali-stable myosin ATPase are designated as type I (3, 16) or 9 (1, 5), whereas type II or a myofibers show a weak reaction for acid-stable myosin ATPase and a strong reaction for alkalistable myosin ATPase. In mammals, type I myofibers are also called slow-twitch oxidative myofibers and type II myofibers are termed fast-twitch-oxidative-glycolytic or fast-twitch-glycolytic myofibers (15). These twitch myofibers are contacted by a nerve fiber at a single site. The histochemical reaction for myosin ATPase is related to the contractile properties of myofibers and the activity of oxidoreductases reflects their metabolic aspects (4, 9, 15).

Breed differences in the histochemical properties of theM. pubo‐ischi‐ofemoralis pars medialismyofibre of domestic cocks

“…However, Helmi and Cracraft (1977) mentioned the M. puboischio-femoralis as being the most important muscle by virtue of its postural maintaining function. PIF muscles are largely composed of Type I fibres, slowtwitch oxidative or tonic muscle fibres (Suzuki et al, 1982(Suzuki et al, , 1985. The present study has shown that the Type I fibres of PIF muscle may be transformed from the transitional to the typical type according to the functional demands on them and that the intimate relationships of the fibre type development to PIF muscle function are present in every breed.…”

“…It is therefore concluded that the development of PIF muscle is good in SH and NH and poor in WC. Suzuki et al (1982Suzuki et al ( , 1985 recognised Type MM, SS and IIA fibres in the PIF muscle of male broiler type chicken between 8 and 11 weeks of age. Type MM fibres are designated as typical Type I and Type SS fibres as Type I tr (la and Ib) in the present study.…”

“…These freshly frozen sections were stained for myosin adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) (Padykula and Herman, 1955) and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase (NADH-DH) (Okamoto et al, 1976). ATPase activities detected after acid (pH 4-3 and 4-5) and alkaline pre-incubation (pH 10-3 and 10-5) (Brooke and Kaiser, 1969;Suzuki et al, 1982) were compared among these different preparations.…”

“…Type I is a slow-twitch-oxidative fibre (Peter et al, 1972) which is mobilised at the beginning of motion and repeats a slow contraction for a prolonged period (Hoppeler, 1990). Suzuki et al (1982) described Type MM fibres, having moderate activities, and Type SS fibres, exhibiting strong activities in both acid and alkaline preincubated adenosine triphosphatase, as tonic muscle fibres which fall into the category of slow-twitch-oxidative fibres. The tonic muscle fibres are capable of developing and maintaining isometric tension (Goldspink, 1980).…”

Histochemical classification of myofiber types in the triceps surae and flexor digitorum superficialis muscle of Japanese macaques.

“…The tree-shrew muscles have been reported to only rarely have FO myofibers (12). The FO or FO-like myofibers have been reported to exist in muscles of bats (2, 4), chickens (16), and house shrews (18). The SOG and FO myofibers in addition to FG, FOG, and SO myofibers have been shown to exist in rat extensor hallucis longus muscle (8).…”