Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T11:35:17.708Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Studies on the function of the oxyurid egg-shell

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

D. A. Wharton
D. A. Wharton
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University College of Wales, Penglais, Aberystwyth SY23 3DA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The egg-shell of Hammerschmidtiella diesingi and Aspiculuris tetraptera reduces the rate of water loss from the egg when exposed to desiccation. Staining of the enclosed larva by acid fuchsin and the collapse of eggs exposed to desiccation indicate that the permeability barrier is heat labile. This suggests that the lipid layer is the main permeability barrie of the shell. The complex structure of the uterine layers has a similar morphology to the respiratory structures of the chorion of some insect eggs. Reflections from the shell, the rate of embryonic development under various conditions and the penetration of lead ions indicate that the shell does not trap a layer of air when immersed in water and the uterine layers cannot, therefore, function as a plastron network. Calculations indicate that if diffusion is limited to the pores in the external uterine layer, the area available for gaseous exchange is reduced by 85·5% in H. diesingi, 95·6% in A. tetraptera and 96·8% in Syphacia obvelata. It is suggested that the uterine layers of oxyurid egg-shells function in a similar fashion to the pores in bird egg-shells and the aeropyles in the chorion of insect egg-shells which do not possess plastron networks. These structures reduce water loss from the egg whilst ensuring an adequate supply of oxygen for embryonic development.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 81 , Issue 1 , August 1980 , pp. 103 - 113
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1980

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Anderson, D. S., (1960). The respiratory system of the egg-shell of Calliphora eryihrocephela. Journal of Insect Physiology 5, 120–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anya, A. O., (1966). Studies on the biology of some oxyurid nematodes. 1. Factors in the development of eggs of Aspiculuris tetraptera Schulz. Journal of Helminthology 40, 253–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barrett, J., (1976). Studies on the induction of permeability in Ascaris lumbricoides eggs. Parasitology 73, 109–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bird, A. F., & Mcclure, M. A., (1976). The tylenchid (Nematoda) egg-shell: structure, composition and permeability. Parasitology 72, 19–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grigonis, G. J., & Solomon, G. B., (1976). Capillaria hepatica: fine structure of the egg-shell. Experimental Parasitology 40, 286–97.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hinton, H. E., (1969). Respiratory systems of insect egg-shells. Annual Review of Entomology 14, 343–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hinton, H. E., (1970). Insect egg-shells. Scientific American 223, 84–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hsü, K. C., (1951). Experimental studies on egg development, hatching and retroinfection in Aspiculuris tetraptera. Journal of Helminthology 25, 131–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, J. E., & Afzelius, B. A., (1967). The structure of the shell and outer membranes in encysted Artemia salina embryos during cryptobiosis and development. Journal of Ultrastructural Research 20, 244–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rahn, H., Ar, A., & Paganelli, C. V., (1979). How birds eggs breathe. Scientific American 240, 38–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Todd, A. C., (1944). On the development and hatching of the eggs of Hammerschmidtiella diesingi and Leidynema appendiculata, nematodes of roaches. Transactions of the American Microscopical Society 63, 54–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wharton, D. A., (1979 a). Oogenesis and egg-shell formation in Aspiculuris tetraptera Schulz (Nematoda: Oxyuroidea). Parasitology 78, 131–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wharton, D. A., (1979 b). The structure of the egg-shell of Aspiculuris tetraptera Schulz (Nematoda: Oxyuroidea). Parasitology 78, 145–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wharton, D. A., (1979 c). The structure and formation of the egg-shell of Hammerschmidtiella diesingi Hammersehmidt (Nematoda: Oxyuroidea). Parasitology 79, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wharton, D. A., (1979 d). The structure and formation of the egg-shell of Syphacia obvelata Rudolphi (Nematoda: Oxyuroidea). Parasitology 79, 13–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wharton, D. A., (1979 e). Ascaris sp.: water loss during desiccation of embryonating eggs. Experimental Parasitology 48, 398–406.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Winston, P. W., & Bates, D. H., (1960). Saturated solutions for the control of humidity in biological research. Ecology 41, 232–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar