Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Departamento de Genética, Evolução e Bioagentes do Instituto de Biologia, Campinas S.P. 13083-970, Brazil.
Micron. 2010 Jul;41(5):448-54. doi: 10.1016/j.micron.2010.02.005. Epub 2010 Feb 18.
The ultrastructural analysis of the midgut of Cephalotes atratus, C. clypeatus, and C. pusillus reveled that the midgut epithelium lays on a basal lamina and is composed basically of three cell types: digestive cells, regenerative cells, and goblet cells. In these ants, the rough endoplasmic reticulum, in addition to producing digestive enzymes, is involved in the formation of concretions and ion storage in specialized vacuoles present in the midgut. These concretions are spherocrystals and may contribute to stabilize the pH and to maintain symbiotic bacteria found between microvilli. The ultrastructure analysis of these bacteria revealed the presence of a double envelope typical of gram-negative bacteria. For the three species examined, the ultrastructure similarities are conspicuous, suggesting that this may be the pattern for the genus Cephalotes. Details of the relationship between bacteria and microvilli were examined.
大头蚁属 Cephalotes atratus、C. clypeatus 和 C. pusillus 中肠的超微结构分析表明，中肠上皮位于基膜上，基本上由三种细胞类型组成：消化细胞、再生细胞和杯状细胞。在这些蚂蚁中，粗面内质网除了产生消化酶外，还参与了在中肠中特有的、专门的空泡中形成结石和离子储存。这些结石是球晶，可能有助于稳定 pH 值，并维持在微绒毛之间发现的共生细菌。对这些细菌的超微结构分析表明，它们具有革兰氏阴性细菌典型的双层包膜。对于所检查的三个物种，超微结构的相似性是显而易见的，这表明这可能是 Cephalotes 属的模式。还检查了细菌与微绒毛之间关系的细节。
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