Structural and biochemical observations on specialized membranes of the "filter chamber", a water-shunting complex in sap-sucking homopteran insects.

Many homopteran insects feed on plant sap which contains solutes in very low concentration. Their digestive tract presents a complex called the "filter chamber" where the excess dietary water is believed to flow directly from the initial part of the midgut to the terminal part of the midgut and the proximal regions of the Malpighian tubules. Freeze-fracture experiments carried out on the filter chamber of Cicadella viridis revealed the presence of intramembrane particles on the whole surface of the microvilli and of basal membrane infoldings of the cells. Examination of negatively stained isolated membranes and of freeze-dried shadowed membranes revealed that the inner surface of the membrane is covered with particles protruding into the cytoplasm; they correspond to the numerous intramembrane particles observed on the P fracture face of the membrane. The outer surface of the membrane exhibits a regular network which corresponds to that observed on the E fracture face. SDS-PAGE analyses were performed on purified membranes of the filter chambers of C. viridis and Philaenus spumarius. In both cases 2 major components, 25 kDa and 75 kDa, were detected. These 2 components appear to be specific for the filter chambers since they were not found in membranes isolated from the other parts of the midgut. Thus, the membranes of these filter chambers, thought to be water-shunting complexes, possess structural and biochemical peculiarities which are probably related to water permeability.