ISOLATION AND MORPHOFUNCTIONAL CHARACTERIZATION OF MUSSEL DIGESTIVE GLAND-CELLS IN-VITRO

The aim of the present study was to isolate and characterize digestive gland cells of the bivalve mollusc Mytilus galloprovincialis Lmk. The digestive gland of bivalves is a complex organ composed of digestive and connective tissues but it is also invaded by the reproductive tiss ue as gametogenesis proceeds. The digestive tissue is comprised of sto mach and intestinal epithelial cells, ciliated and non ciliated duct c ells, digestive cells and basophilic cells. The last two cell types ar e found lining the epithelium of the blind-ending digestive tubules an d are the main focus of this study Two different approaches were assay ed for cell isolation, i.e., explant culture techniques and mechanical plus enzymatical digestion techniques. Cell viability was tested by t rypan blue exclusion, neutral red uptake and ultrastructural analysis, The explant cultures were often contaminated with bacteria and sperma tozoa and, moreover, cells migrating out of the explants possible corr esponded to hemocytes and not to digestive tissue cells, Mechanical pl us enzymatical digestion with collagenase was concluded to he tile met hod of choice for digestive cell isolation, with a percentage of about 30% of isolated cells corresponding to digestive cells. The ultrastru cture of digestive cells isolated with the latter procedure closely re sembled that of mussel digestive cells in vivo.