Bs. Dezfuli et al., THE CEMENT APPARATUS OF LARVAL AND ADULT POMPHORHYNCHUS-LAEVIS (ACANTHOCEPHALA, PALAEACANTHOCEPHALA), Parasitology, 116, 1998, pp. 437-447
Light and electron microscopy were used to study the ultrastructure of
the cement apparatus, namely cement glands and cement ducts of mature
specimens of the acanthocephalan parasite Pomphorhynchus laevis Mulle
r, 1776, recovered from the digestive tracts of fish Leuciscus cephalu
s Risso, 1826. In addition, the cement glands of immature P. laevis fo
und within the body cavity of the fish Alburnus alburnus alborella De
Filippi, 1844 were examined. In a mature male of P. laevis the 6 cemen
t glands are rounded to oval in shape and each of them has an outer cy
toplasmic layer containing nuclei and surrounding a space for storage
of the cement material within the gland. The nuclei have an irregular
outline and the cytoplasm of the cells contains round, membrane-bound
secretory granules approximately 1 mu m in diameter. Nuclei surrounded
by secretory granules were present inside the gland lumen. Within the
gland ducts of mature males, granules were present within the wall th
ickness and, inside the luminal area, mitochondria were encountered. I
n contrast, within the cement glands of immature P. laevis there were
no secretory granules and the chromatin of the nuclei appeared condens
ed. The nature of the secretory product of the cement glands was inves
tigated with histological and electrophoretic methods. A protein with
molecular weight of 23 kDa was recorded as a major component of cement
.