Fine structural and histochemical study of lingual taste organs of Rana catesbeiana (Anura: Ranidae) transplanted to liver.

Autologous tongues were transplanted onto the liver of the anuran Rana catesbeiana, specimens of which were sacrificed at intervals from 6 hr to 5 months after transplantation. Light and electron microscopy as well as histochemistry disclose that the grafts start to organize into cysts after 14 days. The taste organs occur in all grafts irrespective of the age of the graft. All surviving taste organs exhibit intense adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity and contain fluorescent basal cells of the usual type. Ultrastructurally, the taste organs are composed of three distinct types of cells that lack nerves. The taste and basal cells retain the characteristic dense-core granules in their cytoplasm through the experimental periods. The present results suggested that the taste organs of Rana can survive ectopically in the liver for up to 5 months.