Permeability of the cercarial tail in Proterometra macrostoma was examined in vitro with 1 mM 3H-glucose, which tails absorb by diffusion alone. Naturally emerged cercariae (bodies withdrawn into tails) were permeable, but they rapidly (3 min) equilibrated with glucose in the bathing medium and maintained steady state for 4 hr. Metabolism of absorbed glucose was not detectable until after 90 min, and radioactivity in bodies dissected from tails after 4 hr was negligible. On the basis of cercarial water content (90% of total weight) and absorbed isotope at steady state, the calculated volume of the equilibrating compartment was 4% of an intact cercaria. This value correlated well with that of the tegument (3–5%), which was 1–2 µm thick as seen by transmission electron microscopy. A continuous, electron-dense basal membrane/lamina separated the tegument from subtegument. We conclude that the glycocalyx and external plasma membrane are freely permeable, whereas the basal membrane is the barrier that effectively isolated the subtegument from exogenous glucose. The basal membrane also may be the primary structure that protects the subtegument and cercarial body from effects of osmotic stress.
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June 2000
Research Article|
June 01 2000
The Cercarial Tail in Proterometra macrostoma (Digenea: Azygiidae): Permeability and Fine Structure of the Tegument
Gary W. Braham;
Gary W. Braham
aSchool of Biological Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506.
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Gary L. Uglem
Gary L. Uglem
aSchool of Biological Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506.
bTo whom correspondence should be addressed: 4906 Birchmont Drive NE, Bemidji, Minnesota 56601
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J Parasitol (2000) 86 (3): 616–618.
Citation
Gary W. Braham, Gary L. Uglem; The Cercarial Tail in Proterometra macrostoma (Digenea: Azygiidae): Permeability and Fine Structure of the Tegument. J Parasitol 1 June 2000; 86 (3): 616–618. doi: https://doi.org/10.1645/0022-3395(2000)086[0616:TCTIPM]2.0.CO;2
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