The fine structure of the abdominal musculature of the copepod Macrocyclops albidus was investigated by electron microscopy. Tubules penetrate into the muscle fibers from the sarcolemma, continuity between the wall of the tubules and the sarcolemma being clear. A dense network of tubules envelops the myofibrils, its interstices being occupied by cisternal elements. At the Z lines the tubules traverse the interior of myofibrils, giving off branches which course longitudinally within the substance of the myofibrils. These branches are also accompanied by elongate, non-intercommunicating cisternae. Comparison of this fast acting copepod muscle with other vertebrate and invertebrate muscles indicates that the complexity of the tubular system is a function of the myofibrillar geometry, whereas the degree of development of the cisternal system is related to the contraction speed of the muscle.
Article|
June 01 1963
THE SARCOPLASMIC RETICULUM OF STRIATED MUSCLE OF A CYCLOPOID COPEPOD
Wolf H. Fahrenbach
Wolf H. Fahrenbach
From the Department of Anatomy, Harvard Medical School, Boston
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Wolf H. Fahrenbach
From the Department of Anatomy, Harvard Medical School, Boston
Received:
October 10 1962
Online ISSN: 1540-8140
Print ISSN: 0021-9525
Copyright, 1963, by The Rockefeller Institute Press
1963
J Cell Biol (1963) 17 (3): 629–640.
Article history
Received:
October 10 1962
Citation
Wolf H. Fahrenbach; THE SARCOPLASMIC RETICULUM OF STRIATED MUSCLE OF A CYCLOPOID COPEPOD . J Cell Biol 1 June 1963; 17 (3): 629–640. doi: https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.17.3.629
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