Upon excision into spring water, the lateral cilia of the gill of the freshwater mussel Elliptio complanatus (Solander) stop beating, but 0.04 M potassium ion can activate the gill so that these cilia again beat with metachronal rhythm. One per cent osmium tetroxide quickly pipetted onto a fully activated gill fixes the lateral cilia in a pattern that preserves the form and arrangement of the metachronal wave, and permits the cilia to be studied with the electron microscope in all stages of their beat cycle. Changes are seen in the fixed active preparation that are not present in the inactive control, i.e., in the packing of the cilia, the position of the axis of the ciliary cross-section, and the diameter of the ring of peripheral filaments. Analysis of these parameters may lead to new correlations between ciliary fine structure and function.
Article|
August 01 1963
STUDIES ON CILIA : The Fixation of the Metachronal Wave
Peter Satir
Peter Satir
From the Whitman Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Chicago
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Peter Satir
From the Whitman Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Chicago
Received:
December 21 1962
Online ISSN: 1540-8140
Print ISSN: 0021-9525
Copyright © 1963 by The Rockefeller Institute Press
1963
J Cell Biol (1963) 18 (2): 345–365.
Article history
Received:
December 21 1962
Citation
Peter Satir; STUDIES ON CILIA : The Fixation of the Metachronal Wave . J Cell Biol 1 August 1963; 18 (2): 345–365. doi: https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.18.2.345
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