Organization of desmosomes in Bowman's gland duct cells in a marsupial.

Non-secretory cells lining the ducts of Bowman's gland in the olfactory epithelium of the bandicoot (Isoodon macrourus) are united below the duct lumen by an unusually well-organized series of desmosomes linked by conspicuous fibrillar bundles with long mitochondria aligned close to the bundles. It is suggested that these junctional specializations may help to maintain an intact duct lumen in a part of the epithelium with considerable intercellular space.