Biol. Bull. Sign up for etocs!
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hirose, E.
Right arrow Articles by Watanabe, H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Hirose, E.
Right arrow Articles by Watanabe, H.

The Biological Bulletin, Vol 192, Issue 1 53-61, Copyright © 1997 by Marine Biological Laboratory

IMMUNOBIOLOGY

Subcuticular Rejection: an Advanced Mode of the Allogeneic Rejection in the Compound Ascidians Botrylloides simodensis and B. fuscus

E. Hirose, Y. Saito and H. Watanabe
Biological Laboratory, College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 252, Japan

Allogeneic rejection between colonies (colony specificity) was described by electron microscopy in two compound ascidians, Botrylloides simodensis and B. fuscus. When two incompatible colonies are brought into contact at their growing edges, the tunic cuticle dissolves and the tunics of the colonies partially fuse. Alloreactive, humoral factors may diffuse to the opposite colony through the partially fusing tunic, and the tunic cells (free cells distributed in the tunic) possibly recognize these factors and induce a rejection reaction. Then, blood cells--mainly morula cells--infiltrate into the tunic, while tunic cells are disintegrating near where the partial fusion of the tunic is occurring. The infiltrating blood cells aggregate, disintegrate, and discharge electron-dense materials in the tunic at the subcuticular regions where the tunics have partially fused. Since the rejection lesion is restricted to the subcuticular area, some regulatory systems may be involved in this restriction. At the end, new walls are formed in the tunic matrix to separate the rejection lesion from the contacting colonies. The new wall is a continuous layer composed of electron-dense fibers and is structurally identical to the regenerating tunic cuticle. The mode of occurrence of colony specificity (Hirose et al., 1994) and the present results indicate that tunic cells are the only allorecognition sites in B. fuscus.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Biol. Bull.Home page
T. Ishii, E. Hirose, and Y. Taneda
Tunic Phagocytes Are Involved in Allorejection Reaction in the Colonial Tunicate Aplidium yamazii (Polyclinidae, Ascidiacea)
Biol. Bull., April 1, 2008; 214(2): 145 - 152.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1997 by the Marine Biological Laboratory.